LexUNION OF INDIA & OTHERS versus AJAY WAHI
Open in Lexace · Ask the AI about this caseJudgment (excerpt)
[2010] 7 S.C.R. 777
UNION OP INDIA & OTHERS
v.
AJAY WAHi
(Civil Appeal No. 1002 of 2006)
JULY 6, 2010
[G.S. SINGHVI AND C.K. PRASAD, JJ.]
Service Law:
A
B
Armed Forces -
Army -
Disability pension -
c
Commissioned Officer in Army Medical Corps -
Sought
voluntary retirement on medical ground - Claim for disability
pension - HELD: An Officer is entitled to disability pension
only when he is invalided out of service on account of
disability attributable to military service or aggravated thereby 0
and not when his prayer for voluntary retirement is granted -
However, the c{ecision denying invalidation from service
despite disability attributable to military service would be
subject to judicial review - In the instant case, the officer has
not been invalided out of service on account of disability
E
attributable to or aggravated by military service nor his
disability has been determined under the Rules in _Appendix-
/I and, therefore, he shall not be entitled to disability pension
- Army Pension Regulations - Regulations 48 and 50.
Constitution of India, 1950:
F
Articles 14 and 16 - Constitutional validity of Regulation
50 of Army Regulations - HELD: Officers who are invalided
out of service on account of disability attributable to or
aggravated by military service constitute a class in itself and
G
officers who retire voluntarily on medical ground constitute a
different class - Article 14 frowns on discrimination, but
permits reasonable classification -
Thus, Regulation 50
prescribing that an officer retiring voluntarily shall not be
777
H
778
SUPREME COURT REPORTS
[201 O] 7 S.C.R.
A eligible for disability pension cannot be said to be
discriminatory, nor ultra vires Article 14 - Army Pension
Regulations - Regulation 50.
The respondent, a Lt. Colonel in the Army Medical
8 Corps, was admitted to the Command Hospital for
treatment of Bronchial Asthma and lower backache. The
respondent sought premature retirement on medical
ground. The prayer of the respondent for premature
retirement was granted, but, his claim for disability
C pension was not accepted. He filed a writ petition, inter
alia, contending that Regulation 50 of the Army Pension
Regulations prescribing that an officer who retired
voluntarily, would not be entitled to disability pension,
was discriminatory and violative of Article 14 of the
Constitution of India. The single Judge of the High Court
D dismissed the writ petition, but the Division Bench,
relying upon Lt. Col. B.R. Malhotra's case 1 allowed the
prayer. Aggrieved, the employers filed the appeal.
Allowing the appeal, the Court
E
HELD: 1.1. An officer is entitled to disability pension
only when he is invalided out of service on account of
disability attributable to military service or aggravated
thereby and shall not be entitled to disability pension in
case of voluntary retirement, unless it is found and held
F that the officer deserved to be invalided out of service on
account of disability attributable to military service but the
same was not granted to him for unjustified reasons and
he was forced to seek voluntary retirement. [para 18] [789-
B-C]
G
1.2. Undisputedly, the writ petitioner has not been
invalided out of service on account of any disability
attributable to or aggravated by military service and
further, his disability has not been determined in
H 1.
Lt. Col. B.R. Malhotra vs. U.0.1. & Ors. 71 (1998) Delhi law Times 498.
UNION OF INDIA & ORS. v. AJAY WAHi
779
accordance with the Rules in Appendix\11. He had sought
A
voluntary retirement on medical ground which was
granted. In the face of the language of Regulation 50,
there is no escape from the conclusion that an offi,cer
retiring voluntarily shall not be eligible for disability
pension. [para 12] [786-G-H; 787-A]
B
2.1. A provision of a Statute can be declared ultra
vires only when it patently violates some provision of the
Constitution. The Regulation under challenge does not
suffer from any such error. [para 14) (788-8)
c
2.2. Regulation 48 of the Regulations provides for
disability pension to officers who are invalided out of
service on account of nisability attributable to the military
service and, therefore, such officers constitute a class in
itself. Officers who retire voluntarily constitute a different D
class altogether and, therefore, the plea that when an
officer is invalided on the ground of disability attributable
to the militarExcerpt shown. Read the full judgment & AI analysis in Lexace.