The Supreme Court on Wednesday pulled up the Centre for failing to comply with its direction to reconsider welfare measures for military officer cadets who are rendered unfit due to disabilities suffered during training.
A bench of Justices BV Nagarathna, R Mahadevan and DK Upadhyaya, hearing a suo motu case on the issue, said the Centre's latest affidavit showed no genuine reconsideration of the recommendations of the 2015 Sabharwal Committee despite its August 4, 2026 order.
The court noted that the affidavit merely referred to meetings held in 2022 and earlier decisions denying disability pension and ex-servicemen status to officer cadets who were boarded out due to injuries or disabilities.
"What is this attitude you are showing to the court? You say we disposed it of in 2022 and there ends the matter. What is the attitude on the part of the department?" Justice Nagarathna observed.
The bench said there was "no whisper" in the affidavit about any reconsideration of the Sabharwal Committee's recommendations in accordance with its direction.
"It is clear as daylight that there has been no reconsideration of the report by the respondent," the court said, giving the Centre one more opportunity to comply with its order.
The Centre was directed to place on record the minutes of the meeting held pursuant to the court's August 4 direction. The matter has been posted for hearing on November 30.
During the hearing, the bench noted that ordinary recruits who are boarded out receive disability pension and other benefits, while officer cadets are denied similar benefits.
Senior advocate Rekha Palli, appointed as amicus curiae, told the court that around 400 officer cadets may have been affected over the years.
Justice Nagarathna also sought to know why officer cadets were treated differently from ordinary recruits and asked about the financial implications of extending the benefits.
Additional Solicitor General Aishwarya Bhati said the issue involved a policy decision and would be considered by the Eighth Central Pay Commission.
The case relates to officer cadets who are medically discharged from military training institutions after suffering disabilities or injuries during training.
The Supreme Court had earlier urged the Centre to consider insurance cover for cadets suffering such injuries and explore their rehabilitation in desk jobs or other defence-related roles after treatment.
The court had taken suo motu cognisance of a media report in August last year highlighting the difficulties faced by such cadets.
(With inputs from PTI)