NEW DELHI: A retired Lieutenant Colonel on Wednesday sent a defamation notice to former adjutant general of the Army Ashwani Kumar, who superannuated on October 31, over his “disparaging” remarks on disability pensioners.
The legal notice, sent by Lt-Col (retd) Niraj Bakshi, states that Kumar’s remarks give an impression that disabled soldiers “beg or ask” for disability pension, though the fact is the government itself rightly granted it to them.
Armed forces personnel get a separate pension if they suffer any kind of disability in the line of duty. The amount depends on their rank and the kind of disability.
Bakshi’s lawyer Pradeep Kumar said the former adjutant general made the comments in an interview to a news channel.
“...You disparagingly spoke about disability pensioners... conveying as if many such pensioners do not deserve disability benefits... (You) also underlined that there should be incentive for those people who retire in shape from the Army and not to those who retire in low medical category, as if any medical condition... is in a person’s own hands,” the notice said.