The Supreme Court on Tuesday criticised the Centre for pursuing appeals against grant of disability pension to ex-servicemen in the face of a clear recommendation by the defence minister in 2015 for immediate withdrawal of such appeals against disabled soldiers.
Directing Centre to comply with the judgments granting disability pension to ex-soldiers, the court allowed the Centre four months to comply with the directions. The Raksha Mantri’s report was one of the documents relied upon by the ex-servicemen seeking validation of their claims for disability pension even as the Centre denied that every ailment or disability cannot be attributable to military service. Dismissing a batch of over 270 appeals filed by Centre against various orders passed by the Armed Forces Tribunal (AFT) and high courts, a bench of justices PS Narasimha and Alok Aradhe said, “Raksha Mantri Report of 2015 recommended the immediate withdrawal of appeals of this nature pending against disabled soldiers, a recommendation that has not been faithfully implemented.
