Disability developed after 14 years of service attributable to Military service

LiveLaw reports that the Jammu and Kashmir High Court, India, has refused to interfere with an order passed by the Armed Forces Tribunal ("AFT"), which released Disability element of Pension to a soldier who had developed a disability during the course of his service, which although initially deemed as "attributable to service" was subsequently deemed as "not attributable to service" by the Release Medical Board, without any reasoning.  

The Respondent who was enrolled in the Indian Army in July 1977, developed an eye disease namely, "Hypermetropic Amblyopia" of the right eye, due to which he was placed in a permanent low medical category. While the Initial Medical Board observed that the above disability was contracted during service, the release medical board assessed the disability at 15-19% for 2 years and shockingly deemed it as "neither attributable nor aggravated by military service" without assigning any reasons. The Court rejected these findings and upheld the AFT's Order granting disability element. 

This approach of Release Medical Boards, denying attributability of disabilities before the release of the personnel without any cogent reasoning is frequent and deeply concerning. The burden of multiple rounds of litigation on disabled soldiers for grant of disability pension, which is due to them in such cases, is nothing short of appalling.