A bench of Justices Abhay S Oka and Ujjal Bhuyan questioned why every single member of the armed forces who is granted disability pension by the Armed Forces Tribunal (AFT) should be forced to fight a case in the Supreme Court. The court urged the government to show some discretion when deciding whether to file appeals.
New Delhi, Jan 30: The Supreme Court has strongly criticized the Centre for repeatedly taking retired armed forces personnel to court over disability pensions. The top court has asked the government to create a policy to prevent unnecessary litigation in such cases.
A bench of Justices Abhay S Oka and Ujjal Bhuyan questioned why every single member of the armed forces who is granted disability pension by the Armed Forces Tribunal (AFT) should be forced to fight a case in the Supreme Court. The court urged the government to show some discretion when deciding whether to file appeals.
“There has to be some pragmatic view. An army personnel works for 15, 20 years and suppose there is some disability, and order of the Armed Forces Tribunal directs payment of disability pension. Why should these persons be dragged to the Supreme Court?” asked the bench.
The judges further emphasized that the Union government should develop a clear policy on the matter. They stressed that there must be proper scrutiny before deciding to challenge disability pension cases in the apex court.
“We are of the view that the Union government must evolve a policy. There has to be some scrutiny before a decision is taken to drag members of the armed forces to the Supreme Court.”
The court also pointed out that the Centre was filing frivolous appeals in such matters, which could negatively impact the morale of the armed forces.
“You say whether you are willing to frame a policy. And if you say no then we will have to start imposing heavy costs whenever we find that the appeal appears to be frivolous.”
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The Supreme Court made these remarks while hearing an appeal by the Central government against a decision of the Armed Forces Tribunal, which had granted disability pension to a retired radio fitter.
