SANTOSH KUMAR Vs. UNION OF INDIA

JUDGEMENT

(1.) THIS judgment shall dispose of a bunch of writ petitions. All the petitioners are ex servicemen or kin of ex servicemen and claimed disability pension as per Pension Regulations for the Army. Their claims have been rejected by the respondents on the ground that the cases of the petitioners do not fall within the purview of the Pension Regulations. To appreciate the rival contentions of the parties, it would be necessary to refer to certain provisions of the Pension Regulations for the Army.

(2.) REGULATION 173 deals with the grant of disability pension which reads as follows: 173. Unless otherwise specifically provided, a disability pension may be granted to an individual who is invalided from service on account of a disability which is attributable to or aggravated by military service and is assessed at 20 per cent or over. The question whether a disability is attributable to or aggravated by military service shall be determined under the rules in Appendix II.

(3.) REGULATION 173 quoted hereinabove lays down that the question whether disability attributable to or aggravated by military service has to be determined as per rules in Appendix II. Appendix II contains the entitlement rules with regard to disability. The relevant rules are Rules 2, 3, 4 and 7, which read as follows: