Chennai: The Regional Bench of Armed Forces Tribunal, Chennai, (circuit bench, Hyderabad), has ordered the Army to pay additional disability pension to a 74-year-old veteran, who was discharged after an accident involving a military vehicle during the Indo-Pak War 1965.
Gunner M. Sampath (retd) of Old Mudfort, Secunderabad, was discharged in 1967 from the Army after his leg was amputated.
In the petition, Mr Sampath submitted he was enrolled as a sepoy on January 3, 1963, and worked as an Artillery gunner / driver.
During the Indo-Pak War 1965 (Operation Riddle), he was posted as a dispatch rider during an operational movement near Ludhiana, Punjab. He was knocked down by a military vehicle, resulting in injuries which led to the amputation of his left leg.
He was discharged from the Army on April 9, 1967. His disability was declared as permanent and assessed at 60 per cent and disability pension was sanctioned. The pension had been broadbanded from 60 per cent to 75 per cent from 2012.
On several occasions, he approached the defence ministry and the Army to declare the accident as ‘battle casualty’ instead of ‘battle accident’. The authorities contended the accident did not occur due to enemy action.
Citing an order in a similar case by the Delhi High Court of 2012 (Major Suhag v the Union of India), Mr Sampath approached the tribunal seeking a direction to the defence ministry and the Army to declare the injuries sustained by him as ‘battle casualty’ and sanction the difference of disability pension and arrears.
The bench comprising a judicial member, Justice S.S. Satheesachandran, and administrative member Lt General, K. Surendra Nath, stated that the official records showed that the accident took place in an area declared as an operational area under Operation Riddle.
The bench stated that the applicant was entitled to liberalised disability pension with effect from January 7, 2011.
The tribunal directed the authorities to pay Mr Sampath the arrears within three months. The bench has recommended the ministry of defence to modify Pension Regulations for the Army, 2008.
- M. Sampath, 74, from Secunderabad, was injured in a motor vehicle accident involving a military vehicle, when he was deployed in an operational area during the 1965 Indo-Pak War.
- The Army declared his disability as permanent and sanctioned him disability pension.
- Mr Sampath repeatedly approached the Army and the defence ministry to declare him as ‘battle casualty’, which entails higher pension, and not ‘battle accident’.
- He finally moved the Regional Bench of the Armed Forces Tribunal, Chennai (circuit bench, Hyderabad), which declared that Mr Sampath was entitled to liberalised disability pension from January 7, 2011.
