G H UNION OF INDIA & ORS. versus WING COMMANDER S.P. RATHORE

Citation: [2019] 18 S.C.R. 990 · Decided: 11-12-2019 · Supreme Court of India · Bench: DEEPAK GUPTA, SANJIV KHANNA · Disposal: Appeal(s) allowed

Judgment (excerpt)

A
B
C
D
E
F
G
H
990
SUPREME COURT REPORTS
[2019] 18 S.C.R.
UNION OF INDIA & ORS.
v.
WING COMMANDER S.P. RATHORE
(Civil Appeal No. 10870 of 2018)
DECEMBER 11, 2019
[DEEPAK GUPTA AND SANJIV KHANNA, JJ.]
Armed Forces – Air Force – Disability pension – Entitlement
– Disability pension consisting of a service element and a disability
element – Appellant, an Air Force Officer, was superannuated from
service – His disability was less than 20% – Whether appellant not
having 20% disability was at all entitled to disability pension –
Held: Both Regulation 37(a) of the Pension Regulations and Para
8.2 of Circular dated 31.01.2001 issued by Ministry of Defence
clearly provided that disability element was not admissible if the
disability was less than 20% – In view of the provisions, appellant
was not entitled to disability pension – Consequently, there was no
question of rounding off (of his disability) by applying the provisions
of Para 7.2 of the Circular, as done by the Armed Forces Tribunal
(AFT) – AFT erred in applying the principles of rounding off (of
disability) without determining whether appellant was entitled to
disability pension at all – When appellant is not entitled to disability
pension, there would be no question of rounding off (of his disability)
by application of the provisions of Para 7.2 – Defence Service
Regulations – Pension Regulations for the Air Force, 1961 – rr.37(a),
(b) – Circular dated 31.01.2001 issued by Ministry of Defence –
Para 7.2 and 8.2.
Allowing the appeal, the Court
HELD: 1. A bare reading of rr.37(a), (b) of the Pension
Regulations for the Air Force, 1961 makes it clear that an officer
of the Air Force who retires on attaining the age of superannuation
is entitled to disability pension only if disability is assessed at
20% or above. Furthermore, this disability must be attributable
or aggravated by service rendered in the Air Force. [Para 3]
[992-E]
[2019] 18 S.C.R. 990
990
A
B
C
D
E
F
G
H
991
2. Para 7.2 of Circular dated 31.01.2001 issued by the
Ministry of Defence which deals with officials of Armed Forces
invalided out under circumstances mentioned in Para 4.1 provides
that they would be entitled to rounding of the disability. Therefore,
if the disability was less than 50%, it would be rounded off to
50%. If the disability was between 50 and 75% it would be
rounded off to 75%. If the disability was between 76 and 100% it
would be rounded off to 100%. Para 8.2 of the said circular falls
under the heading of Disability Element on Disability/Discharge
and provides that the provisions contained in Para 7.2 shall not
be applicable for computing disability element in cases where
the disability was less than 20%. Both Regulation 37(a) and Para
8.2 clearly provide that the disability element is not admissible if
the disability is less than 20%. In that view of the matter, the
question of rounding off would not apply if the disability is less
than 20%. If a person is not entitled to the disability pension,
there would be no question of rounding off. [Paras 6, 9][993-D-F;
994-B]
3. The Armed Forces Tribunal (‘AFT’) put the cart before
the horse. It applied the principles of rounding off without
determining whether the petitioner/applicant before it would
entitled to disability pension at all. In view of the provisions, the
original petitioner/applicant before the AFT is not entitled to
disability pension. Therefore, the question of applying the
provisions of Para 7.2 would not arise in his case. In this view of
the matter, the order of the AFT is set aside. [Paras 10, 11]
[994-C-D]
CIVIL APPELLATE JURISDICTION: Civil Appeal No. 10870
of 2018.
From the Judgment and Order  dated 15.03.2018 of the Armed
Forces Tribunal, Regional Bench, Lucknow in O.A. No. 477 of 2017
and order dated 12th July, 2018 in M.A. No. 1306 & 1307/2018 in OA
No. 477/2017.
Ms. V.Mohana, R. Balasubramanian, Sr. Advs., Pranay Ranjan,
Santosh Kr. Vishwakarma, Arvind Kumar Sharma, Advs. for the
Appellants.
Mohan Kumar, Ms. Rashmi Singh, Ms. Ritu Bhardwaj, Ms. Neetu
Singh, Ramesh Chandra, Advs. for the Respondent.
UNION OF INDIA & ORS. v. WING COMMANDER
S. P. RATHORE
A
B
C
D
E
F
G
H
992
SUPREME COURT REPORTS
[2019] 18 S.C.R.
The Judgment of the Court was delivered by
DEEPAK GUPTA, J.
1. The short question involved in this appeal filed by the Union of
India is whether disability pension is at all payable in case of a Air Force
Officer who superannuated from service in the natural course and whose
disability is less than 20%.
2. 

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