BIJENDER SINGH versus UNION OF INDIA & ORS.

Citation: [2025] 4 S.C.R. 1550 · Decided: 23-04-2025 · Supreme Court of India · Bench: ABHAY S. OKA · Disposal: Appeal(s) allowed

Cited by 1 judgment(s) · cites 5 · see the full citation network in Lexace

Judgment (excerpt)

[2025] 4 S.C.R. 1550 : 2025 INSC 549
Bijender Singh 
v. 
Union of India & Ors.
(Civil Appeal No(s). 4458-4459 of 2024)
23 April 2025
[Abhay S. Oka and Ujjal Bhuyan,* JJ.]
Issue for Consideration
Matter pertains to the correctness of order passed by the tribunal 
dismissing the review application and holding that disability of the 
appellant was less than 20%.
Headnotes†
Armed Forces Tribunal Act, 2007 – ss.14, 30 – Pension 
Regulations for the Army, 1961 – Regs 173, 183 – Entitlement 
Rules for Casualty Pensionary Awards, 1982 – rr.5 – Disability 
pension – Appellant, enrolled in the army, as invalided out 
from service on account of low medical category for the 
disease generalized tonic clonic seizure old 345 V-67 assessed 
at less than 20% on the recommendations of the Invaliding 
Medical Board – Case of the appellant that he was hale and 
hearty when he had joined the army but suffered the disability 
during his posting at high altitude glacier – Appellant was 
granted disability pension consisting of the service element 
only since the disability was assessed at less than 20% and 
held as not attributable to or aggravated by military service – 
Challenge to – Tribunal held that disability of the appellant 
was less than 20% – Review application thereagainst also 
dismissed – Correctness: 
Held: Tribunal simply went by the remarks of the Invaliding 
Medical Board and Re-Survey Medical Boards to hold that since 
the disability of the appellant was less than 20%, he would not 
be entitled to the disability element of the disability pension – 
Tribunal did not examine the issue as to whether the disability 
was attributable to or aggravated by military service – Neither has 
it been mentioned by the Invaliding Medical Board nor by the Re-
Survey Medical Boards that the disease for which the appellant 
* Author
[2025] 4 S.C.R. 
1551
Bijender Singh v. Union of India & Ors.
was invalided out of service could not be detected at the time of 
entry into military service – Invaliding Medical Board was quite 
categorical that no disability of the appellant existed before entering 
service – If there is no note or report of the Medical Board at the 
time of entry into service that member suffered from any particular 
disease, the presumption would be that the member got afflicted 
by the said disease because of military service – Thus, the burden 
of proving that the disease is not attributable to or aggravated 
by military service rests entirely on the employer – Any disease 
or disability for which a member of the armed forces is invalided 
out of service would have to be assumed to be above 20% and 
attract grant of 50% disability pension – Impugned orders of the 
tribunal wholly unsustainable in law and set aside – Respondents 
to grant the disability element of disability pension to the appellant 
at the rate of 50% with effect from 01.01.1996 onwards for life. 
[Paras 46, 47] 
Case Law Cited
Dharamvir Singh v. Union of India [2013] 8 SCR 1119 : (2013) 7 
SCC 316; Union of India v. Rajbir Singh [2015] 2 SCR 183 : (2015) 
12 SCC 264; Union of India v. Angad Singh Titaria [2015] 2 SCR 
524 : (2015) 12 SCC 257; K.J.S. Buttar v. Union of India [2011] 
4 SCR 136 : (2011) 11 SCC 429; Sukhvinder Singh v. Union of 
India [2014] 8 SCR 1 : (2014) 14 SCC 364 – referred to.
List of Acts
Armed Forces Tribunal Act, 2007; Armed Forces Tribunal 
(Procedure) Rules, 2008; Pension Regulations for the Army, 1961; 
Entitlement Rules for Casualty Pensionary Awards, 1982.
List of Keywords
Invalided from service; Generalized tonic clonic seizure old 345 
V-67; Invaliding Medical Board; Posting at high altitude glacier; 
Disability pension; Service element; Disability not attributable to 
or aggravated by military service; Re-Survey Medical Boards; 
Disability element; Army Group Insurance; Legal presumption that 
disease arose during service; Onus of proof on employer; Disability 
pension to armed forces personnel; Review application; Disability; 
Low medical category; Military service; Disability element of the 
disability pension; Presumption.
1552
[2025] 4 S.C.R.
Supreme Court Reports
Case Arising From
CIVIL APPELLATE JURISDICTION: Civil Appeal No(s). 4458-4459 
of 2024
From the Judgment and Order dated 26.02.2016 and 22.01.2018 
of the Armed Forces Tribunal in OA No. 3977 of 2013 and RA No. 
20 of 2016, respectively
Appearances for Parties
Advs. for the Appellant:
Himanshu Gupta, Manoj C. Mishra.
Advs. for the Respondents:
R. Bala, Sr. A

Excerpt shown. Read the full judgment & AI analysis in Lexace.