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Rounding OFF disability element of disability pension

Respected Veterans,

The Supreme Court of India in their landmark judgment, titled as Union of India versus Ram Avtar in Civil Appeal No.418 of 2012 and connected civil appeals had directed the High Court’s as well as the Tribunals to grant appropriate relief to the pensioners before them, who seek rounding off disability element of the disability pension or war injury element of the warm injury pension vide their judgment dated 10-12-2014. However, the Union of India and others are not granting the relief to the veterans on the ground that it is permissible only to those armed forces personnel, who had been invalidated out of service. In a recent judgment titled Colonel Gurmel Singh (Retd) versus Union of India and others in OA-404-2016, the Hon’ble Armed Forces Tribunal, Chandigarh Regional Bench at Chandimandir has deprecated the stand of the Union of India. The disability element of the disability pension in respect of Colonel Gurmel Singh has been rounded off to 50% as against 30% from the date of his superannuation from service, i.e. 01-06-2005 for life. Further, the Hon’ble Tribunal has directed the government to issue requisite sanction and a PPO within a period of three months from the date of receipt of certified copy of the orders or else it shall carry interest @ 8% per annum from the date it fell due. Scanned copy of the judgment titled as Colonel Gurmel Singh is attached.


The Hon’ble Tribunal has also rounded off the War Injury element of the War Injury pension in numerous cases. It is also important to state that the benefit of rounding off of disability element/war injury element of pension has also been extended to the personnel, who had sought premature retirement.


It is unfortunate that the Govt. of India, Ministry of Defence is declining to grant the relief of rounding off of disability element/war injury element of the pension to Armed Forces Personnel, who superannuated or have retired prematurely. Therefore the only option for the veterans is to knock the door of the Tribunal to seek redressal for grant of rounding off of disability element/war injury element of their pension.