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Pani Ram v. Union of India & Ors.

Miscellaneous Application · 2021 INSC 922Decided 17 Dec 2021
Miscellaneous Application No. 433 of 2022
Justice L. Nageswara Rao · Justice B.R. Gavai

Background

Pani Ram, after 25 years of regular Army service, re-enrolled in the Territorial Army's Ecological Task Force (ETF). While on leave to visit home, he met with a serious accident that led to his leg being amputated, and he was eventually discharged with 80% disability attributable to military service. When he sought a disability pension, the Armed Forces Tribunal rejected his claim, holding that ETF members were governed by special terms that excluded such pensions.

Decision Breakdown

The Supreme Court held that under Section 9 of the Territorial Army Act, 1948, and the Pension Regulations for the Army, 1961, Territorial Army personnel, including ETF members, are entitled to disability pension under the same statutory rules as the Regular Army, since no specific regulation validly excluded them. It rejected the government's reliance on an internal letter and a signed "certificate" denying enhanced pension, holding that such a document, signed by a soldier with no real bargaining power against the State, could not override statutory entitlements. The Tribunal's rejection was set aside, and the government was directed to grant disability pension with arrears and 9% interest from January 2012.

Lesson Learnt

Statutory pension rights cannot be taken away by an internal government letter or a one-sided form a soldier was made to sign, especially where there is unequal bargaining power between the citizen and the State.

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

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Pani Ram v. Union of India & Ors. – Case Summary