Chandigarh, April 4: The Punjab and Haryana High Court affirmed that medical reports lacking substantial evidence cannot invalidate an ex-serviceman’s claim to disability pensions. This ruling came as a division bench dismissed an appeal by the Union of India against a previous order favoring a retired soldier.
The bench, comprising Justice Harsimran Singh Sethi and Justice Deepak Manchanda, ruled that Naik Kuldeep Singh is entitled to his pension benefits. The court also sustained the decision to round off his disability rating from 37 percent to 50 percent effective from his discharge date.
Legal representatives for the central government argued that while the medical board acknowledged the veteran’s conditions—specifically coronary artery disease and dyslipidemia—the board deemed them neither caused nor worsened by military service. They maintained that the Armed Forces Tribunal, Regional Bench, Chandigarh, erred in its December 2023 decision to grant the life-long pension.
The court noted that Singh had completed 19 years of service before being released in February 2021. Records showed he was healthy when he enlisted in January 2002.
“The disease was detected during the course of service, so it has to be attributed to military service,” the bench declared.
The justices affirmed that an unsubstantiated report cannot strip a respondent of their rights.
“In the absence of any perversity being pointed out in the order dated December 13, 2023, either on the basis of the facts or the settled principle of law, no ground is made out for any interference,” the court stated.
