What is well known is that India’s soldiers have been in combat situations since our independence. With military operations, or while serving in hazardous weather, our men could suffer from lifelong disabilities.
What is less known is that those who put their lives on line at the call of duty, their families have to go sometimes, from pillar to post to get their dues, in the event of those who receive an award for their gallantry, and as a consequence a piece of land or a petrol pump, etc. But even worse off are those who are disabled and are denied their disability pension or benefits, not just because of bureaucratic stone-walling but worse still from their so-called brothers in arms, the legal entities within their respective service headquarters, in Delhi!
In 2020 an official response to a query in Rajya Sabha confirmed that Rs. 26 crores upwards had been spent on such legal expenses in 2020. But this is part of a trend that has been in place for some years now. As per reports, in 2013-2014 itself, the IAF has had the highest number of cases (2683) for which over Rs 7 crores were spent, while the Navy spent Rs 69 lacs to battle cases against its own personnel in north India itself, whereas the Army had spent Rs 11.5 lacs This money has gone to their lawyers to ward off those who’ve approached the AFTs (Armed Forces Tribunal) for disability benefits or pension.
The ministry of Defence spends through these judicial bodies huge sums of money, of payment legal fees, for fighting cases in the higher courts of law, to deny those disabled what is their due for being disabled while in service. And worse still, there are those who know little about what the medical authorities choose to write in their reports as they lie semi-conscious in a field hospital recovering from their injuries. In later years it is these reports that they have to battle in their fight for benefits as they hobble from one office to another to prove their disabilities!
No wonder the Supreme Court has pulled up the service headquarters for resorting to excessive litigation to deny our service personnel what should rightly be their due. Moreover, as per a written statement by the Raksha Mantri to the Parliament, some time ago, some 60 civil appeals in the Supreme Court were withdrawn, of which 17 were for disability pension. These facts listed above, show that the legal departments (like the JAG branch in the case of the army) seem to have decided that to save money for the MoD, they would rather deny a service-men the benefits that would help them tide over post military life, with the disability that they have been inflicted with, while undergoing operational/service conditions, often in very demanding circumstances.
The ministry of Defence spends through these judicial bodies huge sums of money, of payment legal fees, for fighting cases in the higher courts of law, to deny those disabled what is their due for being disabled while in service. And worse still, there are those who know little about what the medical authorities choose to write in their reports as they lie semi-conscious in a field hospital recovering from their injuries. In later years it is these reports that they have to battle in their fight for benefits as they hobble from one office to another to prove their disabilities! Tragically, only a few servicemen know about such injustices except those who have been at the receiving end of the bizarre ways of the legal eagles; the service headquarters and the brass hats have shown little interest in changing this system.
Is this fair to those who put their life and limb in line in the interest of the country?
In an equally bizarre initiative, a CBDT Notification of June 24, 2019 notified that disability pension would no longer be exempt from Income Tax if a Service person has not been invalidated during military service; “this withdrawal of Income tax exemption is yet another mindless exercise against possibly the weakest segment of the military, the disabled personnel” wrote Lieutenant General Vijay Oberoi, PVSM, AVSM, VSM (Retired), in an essay in 2020.
And finally, there are cases, especially of some very senior officers, having risen to the highest achievable rank, who get themselves declared partially disabled, just before their retirement, to draw post-retirement benefits. This goes against the basis of the “covenant” between the soldier and the state that had assured those who don the uniform, that they would be taken care off, if they died or they were injured in the line of duty. Is this fair to those who put their life and limb in line in the interest of the country?
