Justices K Natarajan and Johnson John observed that the medical board’s opinion lacked detailed reasons explaining why the disease was considered unrelated to military service.

“Disability pension cannot be denied solely on the ground that the onset of the disability occurred while the Force personnel were posted at Peace Station,” the court said on June 9, directing authorities to release the pensionary benefits.

Served nation for nearly 28 years

• Court records show that Chandrasekhar enrolled in the Army on April 26, 1991, and served for almost 28 years before being discharged on April 10, 2019.
• During a release medical board examination conducted on December 11, 2017, he was diagnosed with “Apical Hypertrophic Cardiomyopathy”, a heart condition that was assessed as causing 20 per cent permanent disability.
• He was placed in a low medical category and later released from service.
• However, while assessing the disability, the medical board concluded that the condition was neither attributable to nor aggravated by military service.
• As a result, Chandrasekhar was denied the disability element of pension despite being found to have a permanent disability.

Medical board cites non-service factors

The board recorded that the disease had been diagnosed during an evaluation of an ECG abnormality detected during a periodic medical examination and stated that it was “not related to service conditions”. Based on this opinion, the authorities rejected the disability pension claim.

The retired soldier challenged the decision before the AFT’s Regional Bench in Kochi, but the tribunal also declined relief.

The tribunal held that the onset of the disease had occurred while the petitioner was serving in a peace station, and accepted the medical board’s view that there was no causal connection between the disease and military service.

Veteran moves high court

Challenging the tribunal’s order dated February 17, 2025, Chandrasekhar approached the Kerala High Court.

His counsel argued that the medical board had failed to provide proper reasons for concluding that the disability was unrelated to service and that the tribunal had simply repeated the findings of the authorities without examining the governing pension rules and regulations.

The petitioner further contended that merely because a disease was detected while serving in a peace station could not automatically disentitle a soldier from receiving disability pension.

HC finds medical opinion inadequate

• The high court found considerable force in the veteran’s arguments.
• Examining the board’s report, the bench observed that the opinion lacked detailed reasons explaining why the disease was considered unrelated to military service.
• The judges noted that the board had simply recorded a conclusion without supporting analysis.
• Referring to recent Supreme Court precedents, the court observed that an unreasoned medical opinion can be subjected to judicial scrutiny and cannot automatically form the basis for denying disability pension.
• The bench also reiterated that pension and social security laws are beneficial legislations and should be interpreted liberally in favour of claimants wherever possible.
• The denial of disability pension based on a medical opinion without providing full reasons to support the opinion cannot be said to be valid, the court said.

Court rejects ‘peace station’ logic

• A major aspect of the judgment was the court’s rejection of the authorities’ reliance on the fact that Chandrasekhar’s illness surfaced while he was serving in a peace station.
• The bench pointed to Regulation 423 of the Regulations for Medical Services for Armed Forces, which expressly states that it is immaterial whether a disability arises in a field area, active service area or under normal peace conditions. The crucial question is whether there is a causal connection between the disability and service conditions.
• The court also referred to recent judicial observations recognising that military service remains stressful even at peace stations due to strict discipline, long working hours, separation from family, constant readiness for deployment and uncertainty regarding future assignments.
• Quoting from recent precedents, the bench noted that disability pension cannot be denied solely because the onset of the disease occurred while the serviceman was posted in a peace station.

No evidence disease existed before joining Army

Another factor that weighed with the court was the absence of any record showing that Chandrasekhar suffered from the heart condition before entering military service.

The judges noted that no note regarding the disease was made at the time of his enrolment in 1991. The respondents also failed to produce any medical records indicating that he had a pre-existing condition or hereditary illness.

In such circumstances, the petitioner was entitled to the benefit of statutory presumptions available under military pension regulations, the court held.

The bench further observed that Chandrasekhar had pursued his claim within 15 years of discharge and therefore the burden largely rested on the authorities to justify the denial of pension.

Pension to be released in 3 months

Allowing the writ petition, the high court set aside the Armed Forces Tribunal’s order and directed the Union of India and defence authorities to issue a corrigendum Pension Payment Order granting disability pension to Chandrasekhar.

The authorities have been directed to complete the process within three months from the date of receipt of the judgment.

The court also ordered that if the benefits are not paid within the stipulated period, the unpaid arrears would carry interest at the rate of 7 per cent per annum.