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Union of India & Ors. v. No. 3989606 P, Ex-Naik Vijay Kumar

Civil Appeal · Neutral citation not assigned (Civil Appeal No. 6583 of 2015)Decided 26 Aug 2015
Civil Appeal No. 6583 of 2015
Justice T.S. Thakur · Justice R. Banumathi

Background

The respondent, an Army Naik, was on authorized annual leave visiting his sister in Jalandhar to buy items for his brother's wedding. One night, while climbing stairs at his sister's house to go to the roof to smoke, the lights went out and he fell, sustaining serious injuries that eventually led to his medical invalidation from service. His claim for disability pension was rejected administratively on the ground that the disability was neither attributable to nor aggravated by military service, but the Armed Forces Tribunal overturned that and granted him a 75% disability pension, prompting the Union of India's appeal to the Supreme Court.

Decision Breakdown

The Supreme Court held that for a disability pension to be granted for an injury sustained while on leave, there must be a reasonable and relevant causal connection between the injury and military service: merely being nominally "on duty" status while on leave is not enough. Reviewing precedent (including Sukhwant Singh v. Union of India and similar cases), the Court found that falling down stairs at a relative's home while going to smoke on the roof was a purely private act entirely unconnected to military duties, unlike cases where the injury occurred while actually travelling between duty station and home. The Court also held that a Medical Board's opinion attributing the disability to "stress and strain of military service" is only recommendatory and does not by itself confer an automatic entitlement, especially since the Board's own record stated the disability was not attributable to or aggravated by service. The Tribunal's order was therefore set aside and the Union's appeal allowed, with no order as to costs.

Lesson Learnt

A soldier injured during an accident that happens while on leave can only get a disability pension if there is a genuine, reasonable link between the accident and military service (such as travelling to/from duty); a purely personal mishap unrelated to any military function or journey will not qualify, even if a Medical Board's report uses sympathetic language.

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

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