similar injuries is discrimination
NEW DELHI: When a bullet coming from the other side of
the border does not distinguish between a commissioned
and non-commissioned officer in the Army, how can the
government do so when it comes to grant of death-cum-
retirement gratuity (DCRG), wondered the newly-constituted
Armed Forces Tribunal (AFT) headed by a retired Supreme
Court judge. In a major order that would assuage the long-
standing grievance of the officers, both commissioned and
non-commissioned, AFT principal Bench comprising
chairperson Justice A K Mathur and member Lt Gen M L
Naidu said this discrimination in payment of DCRG was
violative of Article 14 (right to equality) guaranteed under
the Constitution. A petitionfiled by the Disabled War Veterans
(India) through counsel Aishwarya Bhati had made two major
grievances — one relating to the difference in payment of DCRG
and the other regarding computation of pension for a disabled
soldier. Bhati had alleged that the government takes into
account the minimum payscale in the rank of the disabled
soldier to compute the war injury pension to him and had
requested AFT to direct the Centre to consider taking into
account the highest pay in the rank for the purpose. AFT agreed
on both counts with the counsel. On DCRG, it said once the
short service commission officers and the permanent service
commission officers fight on the border shoulder-to-shoulder
, they formed the same class and no further distinction can be
made. "Once they form the same class and they are fighting
shoulder-to-shoulder against the enemy and if unfortunately
both of them receive an injury and they are disabled then no
distinction can be made in the payment of DCRG," the AFT
said asking the government to take serious note of the anomaly
and review the policy forthwith. "We cannot give them benefit,
but we can only request the government that this payment of
DCRG on the basis of distinction between short service
commissionand regular service commission is highly
discriminatory. We hope and trust that the government will
remove thisdiscrimination which is apparent on the face of it,
" it said. Coming to computation of war injury pension, the
AFT said the cause of injury which disabled a soldier and cut
shorthis career was beyond the control of the personnel and
such persons should be treated fairly by being given war injury
pension on the basis of the highest pay in the rank. "We feel
strongly that it is a matter which requires serious consideration
of the government that a person whose career has been sacrificed
for safeguarding the Indian border and he is to be treated in such
a poor way that he is being paid war disabled pension on the
basisof minimum of the scale of that rank," the AFT Bench
said. "The maximum scale of that rank should be considered
for determining the amount of war injury pension," the AFT
said disposing of the petition by the Disabled War Veterans.
Veteran Prabhjot Singh Chhatwal PLS Retd.
Mob.09554-09128,Tele-Fax 0175-5000896.
