Lucknow: The plight of an army man who had been waging a legal battle for the past 40 years for a pension of Rs 40 a month, finally moved the Armed Forces Tribunal.
It directed the ministry of defence to pay the arrears of the pension. A two-judge bench of the Lucknow regional bench of the Armed Forces Tribunal comprising Justice V.K. Dixit, (member judicial and HOD), and Lieutenant General Gyan Bhushan (member administration), also asked the ministry to refer the case to re-survey medical board for re-assessing the medical condition of the petitioner, sepoy Sunehri Lal, for further entitlement of disability pension, if any.
The bench further observed that, “It is a very hard case in which all that Sunehri Lal would get is a very meagre amount. The case lingered for no fault of the petitioner in the courts below. Looking to his old age, his sagging health, his ailment concomitant with old age and the financial strain undergone by him all these years, we feel that the petitioner should be adequately compensated”. The bench also allowed the application with costs.
“The petitioner has also been held entitled to special costs, which we quantify at Rs 25,000. The amount shall be paid to in addition to the amount, which the petitioner has been entitled by the way of judgment,” the bench said.
