CHENNAI: Holding that as per the Entitlement Rules, for acceptance of a disease as attributable to military service, the disease ought to have arisen during the period of military service and caused by the conditions of employment in military service, the Madras High Court has dismissed a petition filed by a retired Army officer seeking disability pension as he suffered disability due to hypertension.
The petitioner, Colonel Yesudian Sugumar P of Pattakarai in Thoothukudi district who retired from service on May 31, 2021 after 34 years of service, challenged the October 24, 2024 order of the Armed Forces Tribunal, Regional Branch, Chennai, which upheld the orders of the appellate authorities who ruled against him.
“In view of 10(b) of the Entitlement Rules for Casualty Pensionary Awards to Armed Forces Personnel, 2008, the disease shall be accepted as attributable to military service only if the disease has arisen during the period of military service and has been caused by the conditions of employment in military service for the grant of disability pension,” said the first bench of Chief Justice Manindra Mohan Shrivastava (since retired) and Justice G Arul Murugan in a recent order. Further as per the new regulations, disability pension shall be granted based on the opinion recorded by the Release Medical Board during release/retirement about the disability suffered or aggravated due to military service and assessed at more the 20%, it noted.
The bench said, “When the Release Medical Board had opined that the disability primary hypertension detected in the year 2021 while working in peace area, is neither attributable to nor aggravated by military service, the Tribunal had rightly by taking note of the provisions under the new regulations rejected the claim. We see no error or infirmity to interfere in the orders passed by the tribunal.”
It pointed out the findings of the authorities concerned that the petitioner had served at a peaceful location under normal conditions when he was diagnosed with hypertension and so it was not attributed to conditions of military service.