Tribunal puts army in dock says different benefits for similar injuries is discrimination

NEW DELHI: When a bullet coming from the other side of the border does not distinguish between a commissioned and non-commissioned officer in the Army, how can the government do so when it comes to grant of death-cum-retirement gratuity (DCRG), wondered the newly-constituted Armed Forces Tribunal (AFT) headed by a retired Supreme Court judge.

In a major order that would assuage the long-standing grievance of the officers, both commissioned and non-commissioned, AFT principal Bench comprising chairperson Justice A K Mathur and member Lt Gen M L Naidu said this discrimination in payment of DCRG was violative of Article 14 (right to equality) guaranteed under the Constitution.

A petition filed by the Disabled War Veterans (India) through counsel Aishwarya Bhati had made two major grievances — one relating to the difference in payment of DCRG and the other regarding computation of pension for a disabled soldier.

Bhati had alleged that the government takes into account the minimum payscale in the rank of the disabled soldier to compute the war injury pension to him and had requested AFT to direct the Centre to consider taking into account the highest pay in the rank for the purpose.

AFT agreed on both counts with the counsel. On DCRG, it said once the short service commission officers and the permanent service commission officers fight on the border shoulder-to-shoulder, they formed the same class and no further distinction can be made.

"Once they form the same class and they are fighting shoulder-to-shoulder against the enemy and if unfortunately both of them receive an injury and they are disabled then no distinction can be made in the payment of DCRG," the AFT said asking the government to take serious note of the anomaly and review the policy forthwith.

"We cannot give them benefit, but we can only request the government that this payment of DCRG on the basis of distinction between short service commission and regular service commission is highly discriminatory. We hope and trust that the government will remove this discrimination which is apparent on the face of it," it said.

Coming to computation of war injury pension, the AFT said the cause of injury which disabled a soldier and cut short his career was beyond the control of the personnel and such persons should be treated fairly by being given war injury pension on the basis of the highest pay in the rank.

"We feel strongly that it is a matter which requires serious consideration of the government that a person whose career has been sacrificed for safeguarding the Indian border and he is to be treated in such a poor way that he is being paid war disabled pension on the basis of minimum of the scale of that rank," the AFT Bench said.

"The maximum scale of that rank should be considered for determining the amount of war injury pension," the AFT said disposing of the petition by the Disabled War Veterans.

dhananjay.mahapatra@timesgroup.com

Tribunal puts army in dock says different benefits for similar injuries is discrimination