The Kerala High Court in a recent judgment ruled that an individual who voluntarily discontinued his service is entitled to disability pension if he acquired a chronic disability that was attributable to military service. The Division Bench of the court, comprising two judges, was considering a writ petition filed after the petitioner’s application before the Armed Forces Tribunal was dismissed. The Tribunal had rejected the claim on the ground that the petitioner had voluntarily discharged himself and that the Release Medical Board’s certificate did not indicate that his disability was incapable of improvement, leading to a conclusion that he was not entitled to disability pension. The petitioner had enrolled in the army in the mid-1980s in a physically fit condition. While posted in Jammu and Kashmir in the mid-1990s, he was diagnosed with Bronchial Asthma assessed at twenty percent disability for two years and his medical category was downgraded, resulting in a recommendation for his release. Faced with his condition, the petitioner sought voluntary discharge from service. He argued that Bronchial Asthma is a chronic, lifelong condition with no permanent cure and that the Medical Board was not justified in restricting the disability assessment to only two years. In support of his contention, he relied on earlier Supreme Court and High Court decisions interpreting the Pension Regulations applicable to the army, particularly on how disability pension should be assessed where lifelong impairment was involved.
The central government counsel opposing the plea had pointed to a letter from the Ministry of Defence which, although providing for extension of disability pension to voluntarily discharged personnel, did not prove entitlement in this case because there was no documentation showing that the ex-serviceman continued to suffer from the same disability at the time of that letter. The High Court considered the legal presumption that where an individual enters military service in sound physical and mental condition and is subsequently discharged on medical grounds, it is presumed that the deterioration in health must be due to military service. In the present case, the Release Medical Board had specifically documented that the Bronchial Asthma was aggravated by military service and had recommended permanent medical downgrade and release. The court took particular note of the chronic and lifelong nature of Bronchial Asthma as a condition that does not have a permanent cure, concluding that the petitioner was entitled to the disability element of pension based on the original assessment made by the Medical Board.
The Court ultimately allowed the writ petition and directed that the petitioner be granted disability pension from the date of the assessed twenty percent disability, continuing to the present, given the chronic nature of his condition and the findings of aggravation due to service. In addition, the court ordered that the arrears of the disability pension be paid within a specified time period. This judgment clarified that even voluntary discharge does not bar a claim for disability pension when a chronic medical condition was acquired due to military service, provided medical findings reflect that the disability is attributable to or aggravated by such service.
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