Injury sustained in military station beyond duty hours qualifies for disability benefits: HC

Upholding an earlier verdict by the Armed Forces Tribunal, the Punjab and Haryana High Court has ruled that the Army cannot refuse disability benefits to a soldier on the pretext that his injury was sustained after “duty hours”.

The court was hearing a writ petition filed by the Ministry of Defence and the Army challenging the Tribunal’s verdict that had granted disability pension to a member of the Defence Security Corps who sustained 30 per cent lifelong disability after an unknown vehicle hit him near the gate of his unit in September 2015 while he was returning to his unit after duty hours.

The government had challenged the Tribunal’s verdict of the AFT on the grounds that the disability had been declared “neither attributable to nor aggravated by military service” since the accident had taken place after “duty” hours, although the soldier was not held blameworthy for it.

A Division Bench of the High Court comprising Justice Sureshwar Thakur and Justice Sudeepti Sharma held that disability pension cannot be denied to a person for an injury sustained during ‘respite hours’ since he remains in active service and is not on leave during such period.

The Bench observed that he had sustained the injury owing to a road accident which occurred during his performing active military service and even if at the relevant time his shift had ended, the supra factum cannot restrain the soldier from claiming relief.

“The reason for so stating becomes grooved in the trite factum that since after his performing his shift / active duty, he was under respite from duty. Therefore, when even during respite, he was evidently stationed within the precincts of the military station, wherein the disability became entailed upon him,” the Bench ruled.

“In sequel, the entailment of disability upon the soldier rather during respite hours thus does not dis-entitle him to become a valid recipient of disability pension, nor the disability entailed upon the soldier during respite hours, can be stated to become neither aggravated by military duty nor it can be stated to become not attributable to rendition of military service,” the Bench added.