Case Of ‘Battle Casualty’: Supreme Court Upholds AFT Order Granting Liberalised Family Pension To Deceased Soldier’s Widow

The Court took note of the fact that the death had occurred as a result of a war-like situation prevailing near the Line of Control.

The Division Bench comprising Justice Abhay S. Oka & Justice Augustine George Masih said, “In our view, in a case like this, the respondent ought not to have been dragged to this Court, and the decision making authority of the appellants ought to have been sympathetic to the widow of a deceased soldier who died in harness.”

ASG Vikramjeet Banerjee represented the Petitioner while Sr. Adv. K. Parameshwar represented the Respondent.

The respondent, in this case, is the widow of late Naik Inderjeet Singh (deceased). The deceased was employed in the Indian Army in the year 1996 and was a part of an Area Domination Patrol of the Rangwar gap in the proximity of the Line of Control (LC) along the Anti Infiltration Obstacle System (AIOS).The AIOS was a fence built by the Indian Army to prevent cross-border infiltration. He complained of breathlessness during duty in extreme climatic conditions on January 23, 2013.

The regimental medical officer found the condition of the deceased very critical. He could not be air-evacuated due to bad weather and was evacuated on foot. When he was taken to the MI room, he was declared dead. The cause of death was cardiopulmonary arrest. His death was initially classified as a ‘battle casualty’ but was later classified as a ‘physical casualty’ attributable to military service. The respondent was granted all terminal benefits, including a special family pension. As she was denied a Liberalised Family Pension (LFP), she filed an original application before the Armed Forces Tribunal.

By the impugned judgment, the Tribunal allowed the application and directed that the respondent be granted LFP and ex gratia lump sum amount payable in case of battle casualties dying in harness. The appeal before the Apex Court took exception to the said judgment.

It was the case of the appellants that LFP is granted in case of death of an armed forces personnel under the circumstances mentioned in categories D and E of paragraph 4.1 of the order dated January 31, 2001 issued by the Director (Pensions) of the Ministry of Defence, Government of India but both these categories did not apply to the deceased. It was also submitted that as the deceased died due to cardiopulmonary arrest, his case was classified as a ‘physical casualty’ attributable to military service, and, therefore, the respondent was paid a special family pension.

The Bench took note of the fact that initially, the Commanding Officer had categorised the death as a ‘battle casualty’, and later on, it was changed to a ‘physical casualty’. It was further noticed that the deceased was operating near LC in extreme climatic conditions. He was a part of Operation Rakshak and was on duty near LC. The casualty caused by illness due to climatic conditions was covered by clause 1 (g).

“In this case, the respondent’s husband was a victim of illness caused by extreme climatic conditions. Therefore, the case of the deceased will fall in the category of ‘Battle Casualties’”, it held. It was further observed that clause (f) of category E was applicable as the death had occurred as a result of a war-like situation prevailing near LC.

Thus, dismissing the appeal, the Bench directed the appellants to pay the costs quantified as Rs 50,000 to the respondent within 2 months.

Cause Title: Union of India & Ors. v. Saroj Devi [Neutral Citation: 2024 INSC 921]

Appearance:

Petitioner: ASG Vikramjeet Banerjee, AOR Mukesh Kumar Maroria, Advocates Arunima Dwivedi, Shetty Uday Kumar Sagar, Vishakha, Bhuvan Mishra

Respondent: Sr. Adv. K.Parameshwar, Advocates A.K.Trivedi, Vaibhav Trivedi, Dr. Ramsankar, Harini Ramsankar, Kanti, Raji Gururaj, Srinivas Patil, Chitransha

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