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Madan Prasad Sinha @ Sanatan Baba v. Union of India

Civil Appeal · 2019 INSC 472Decided 8 Apr 2019
Civil Appeal No. 11485 of 2018
Dr. Justice D.Y. Chandrachud · Justice Hemant Gupta

Background

The appellant was enrolled in the Indian Army's Corps of Signals in 1971 and was discharged in 1981 on medical grounds. He claimed his Chronic Duodenal Ulcer was attributable to his participation in "Operation Cactus Lilly" in 1971 and sought disability pension, including for the gap period between 1995 and 2014 when his disability was re-assessed below the qualifying threshold and his pension was stopped.

Decision Breakdown

The Supreme Court upheld the Armed Forces Tribunal's finding that the disability was not attributable to active operational participation, so no war injury pension was due on that basis. However, examining the medical board records, the Court found that the appellant's disability had been assessed at 20% or more at various points and was finally fixed at 20% for life from January 2014, making the earlier denial of pension between 24 March 1995 and 30 January 2014 unjustified. It allowed the appeal and directed payment of pension arrears for that period within three months.

Lesson Learnt

Even where a specific claim (like a war-injury pension tied to combat participation) fails, courts will still scrutinize the underlying medical assessment record and correct wrongful stoppage of ordinary disability pension based on re-assessment anomalies.

Official source (sci.gov.in)View Judgment (PDF)

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