Unrecorded disability is deemed to be aggravated by military service, rules HC; Grants benefits to cadet discharged 25 years ago-OxBig News Network

Granting ex-gratia to a cadet invalidated out from the Officers Training Academy (OTA) 25 years ago because of injuries sustained during a military exercise, the Punjab and Haryana High Court has held that unrecorded medical disorders sustained prior to entry into service are deemed to have been aggravated by military service.

“Significantly, if any disability is so inconsequential that it could not be noticed (at the time of entry) and the same re-surfaces as a result of the rigorous military training, the resurfacing thereof cannot be dissected, for reasons without any basis, from the military training.  The resurfacing is clearly attributable to the service conditions that have aggravated the resurfacing of such disease,” the Bench of Justice Vinod S Bhardwaj ruled.

The Bench held that there were no cogent reasons or circumstances established by the authorities to the satisfaction of the judicial conscience of the Court that the disability suffered by the cadet was neither attributable nor aggravated on account of military service and set aside the order denying him disability benefits.

The cadet, Parveen Salaria had joined the OTA in May 1999. During the course of strenuous physical training, he developed the disability of “osteoarthritis of right hip joint and avascular necrosis of head of femur.”

The medical authorities recorded that the said disability developed after training and running and as a direct result of a fall during a bona fide military training exercise. The disability was assessed as progressive and it could further worsen with continued military training.

The authorities recorded this as a disability attributable to and aggravated by the military service itself. Consequently, he was first placed in the low medical category and finally invalidated in November 1999 due to the worsening of his condition.

Since no monthly ex-gratia allowance or disability pension was granted, the cadet submitted a representation to the authorities, but the claim was rejected by the pension authorities in 2000 on the grounds that the disability was neither attributable to nor aggravated by military service.

The Bench observed that as per the OTA medical records, the cadet felt severe pain in his right thigh during the military exercise, which was clearly recorded in the diagnosis undertaken by the military hospital. Further, the report on cases prepared by the authorities clearly showed that the injury was reported to have occurred due to severe military training as undertaken by a pre-commission cadet.

The authorities contended that the cadet was already suffering from the problem 5-6 years prior to his joining the forces. It was being managed conservatively and he had been asymptomatic till June 1999, when he had developed pain in his right hip. The medical board at the time of his release did not attribute the problem as attributable to or aggravated by military service.

Remarking that even if it was old and was being managed conservatively, the problem was certainly aggravated as a result of the rigorous military training, the Bench referred to a Supreme Court ruling specifically holding that military personnel are presumed to be in sound physical and medical condition while entering service, except as to the physical disabilities noted or recorded at the time of entrance.

In the event of being discharged from service on medical grounds at any subsequent stage, the Bench said that it must be presumed that any such deterioration in the health which has taken place is due to such military service and the burden lies on the medical board to prove it to the contrary.