Summary of this article
Invalid pension allowed despite less than 10 years of service
Permanent medical discharge overrides service length requirement
Government circular issued post retirement cannot deny pension rights
The Calcutta High Court held that defence servicemen, who are medically discharged from service due to permanent disability, will be eligible for an invalid pension without consideration of fulfilling 10 years of minimum service requirements, as service requirements do not impact a serviceman in such a case.
Background Of The Case
The case regards a former defence personnel who worked in the Indian Army as a Sepoy from 1985 to 2009. After fulfilling his term, he left with a pension. However, in 2009, he rejoined the Defence Service Corps for a term of 10 years.
While serving in the Defence Service Corps, he was diagnosed with primary hypertension in 2017. In 2018, he was further diagnosed with Tourette’s disorder and moderate depressive disorder. The medical authorities described these two disorders as permanent medical disabilities.
Hence, he was medically discharged from service with effect from December 1, 2019. At the time of discharge, he had rendered service of 8 years, 8 months, and 8 days in the Defence Service Corps, which was less than the minimum qualifying service of 10 years.
Denial Of Invalid Pension And Tribunal Order
However, after being medically discharged, he applied for an invalid pension. His application was rejected because he did not fulfill a mandatory requirement of 10 years of service.
Being aggrieved with this treatment, he approached the Armed Forces Tribunal. His application was allowed by the Tribunal, and he was ordered to be granted an invalid pension from the next day of the medical discharge, which is December 2, 2019.
Union Of India’s Argument Before The High Court
A writ petition was filed by the Union of India before the Calcutta High Court challenging the order of the Tribunal. The Union of India stated in this petition that, despite being medically unfit for a military career, a person can in no way be rendered permanently incapable of other civil jobs.
The Union of India used a circular dated July 16, 2020. As per this circular, an individual can claim an invalid pension only if he/she is invalidated for all kinds of employment and not for employment in the Armed Forces alone. As the employee had been deemed unfit for all kinds of military jobs, they claimed that this individual was not eligible for an invalid pension under this circular.
Employee’s Stand
The employee asserted that he had been medically discharged based on permanent disability and that the nature of his discharge qualified him for an invalid pension. He disputed the requirement of completing 10 years of service when one is permanently medically invalidated.
Findings Of The Court
The division bench of Acting Chief Justice Sujoy Paul and Justice Partha Sarathi Sen considered precedent judgments in this matter. The bench based its judgment on a case in Union of India & Others v. P.A. Thomas, where it was ruled that the length of service is not relevant in matters of invalidated pension based on medical discharge.
The court also cited the observation that a government servant retiring on attaining the age of 95 years, on account of bodily or mental infirmity permanently incapacitating him for service, can be granted an invalid pension provided he has not completed 10 years of qualifying service.
In this case, reliance was further placed on the judgment given in Ex-Rect. Mithilesh Kumar v. Union of India & Others. Here, it is stated that permanent medical inability is a sufficient basis for a grant of an invalid pension without considering service duration.
Circular Cannot Be Applied Retrospectively
The High Court disapproved the Union of India’s reliance on a circular dated July 16, 2020. The court noted that the circular had come into effect after the medical discharge of the employee. The court based its judgment on decisions taken in the cases, namely V. Vincent Velankanni vs. Union of India & Others, and Bharat Sanchar Nigam Ltd. & Others vs. Tata Communications. The court stated that an administrative circular can never have a retrospective effect to nullify rights which have already accrued.
As the right of the employee to an invalid pension had arisen in 2019 when he got a medical discharge, he was not to be denied this right by a subsequent circular.
What Is an Invalid Pension
An invalid pension is offered to government or defence force employees after they have retired or have been discharged from service because of a physical or mental disability. The disability should render them permanently incapable of carrying out the duties of their current role at the time they were discharged from service. To obtain this pension, an individual is not required to serve for the minimum time.
