A Division Bench of the Jammu & Kashmir and Ladakh High Court upheld the Armed Forces Tribunal’s award of disability pension with rounding-off benefits to an Army veteran subsequently discharged from the Defence Security Corps.
Judge / Bench — Hon’ble Mrs. Justice Sindhu Sharma and Hon’ble Mr. Justice Shahzad Azeem, Judges; judgment by Sindhu Sharma-J.
No disability had been recorded at either enrolment, while the cataract condition manifested during service. The Release Medical Board’s unexplained conclusion that the condition was neither attributable to nor aggravated by service did not rebut the applicable presumption. The Bench also accepted the Tribunal’s treatment of discharge on completion of engagement and its rejection of the below-20% assessment as a bar in these circumstances. The Union’s petition was dismissed. For pension litigation, the decision requires scrutiny of the Board’s reasons and the governing entitlement regulations rather than treating an expert label as conclusive.
Case — Union of India and others v. Ex. Lance Naik Babu Ram · WP(C) No. 1518/2024 · 2026-10-13 · Jammu wing
Advocates appearing — Petitioners — Mr. Vishal Sharma, DSGI, with Mr. Eishaan Dadhichi, CGSC. Respondent — Mr. Rajnish Raina, Sr. Advocate, with Mr. Prabhat Sangotra, Advocate; Mr. Rishu Rajeshwar, Advocate.