Bombay HC directs Navy to reconsider doctor’s disability pension within 6 weeks

Dr Jaiswal, who served at INS Jeevanti in Goa and the
Andaman and Nicobar Islands, was discharged from service in 2012 after being
classified with a disability. The disability was due to his service. He was supposed to receive the disability pension of a retired naval doctor.

However, he has been engaged
in a legal battle to secure his pension. Although the Navy had assured the
Armed Forces Tribunal (AFT), Mumbai, that his pension would be reinstated, the
Navy unexpectedly revoked Jaiswal’s pension payment order (PPO).

According to the Times of India, the Navy began disbursing Dr Jaiswal’s disability pension in
March 2023, following the AFT’s 2019 ruling. However, the Navy has since ceased
these payments, despite the absence of a stay on the AFT’s decision. The court
has scheduled the next hearing for June 28, after its summer recess. “The Navy asked for time to reconsider, and the high court has given the Navy six weeks to respond. If they don’t respond, then our contempt petition will be accepted,” said Jaiswal’s lawyer Satendra Kumar.

Dr Jaiswal stated that a simple notice had been misinterpreted as a stay order. “What the Navy has done is it has misrepresented a notice as a stay order by the high court. They have deliberately made the stay order letter to stop the pension to harass me,” said Jaiswal. 

Armed Forces personnel who are retired or discharged from service with a disability sustained under circumstances accepted as Category ‘D’ and assessed not less than 20% are awarded a monthly disability compensation called Liberalized Impairment Relief. This is not a pension and ceases upon the recipient’s death.

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