MEERA DEVI Vs. UNION OF INDIA

JUDGEMENT

(1.) INITIALLY the writ petition was filed on behalf of Shri Jai Kumar Singh upon whose death his wife, Meera Devi, has been substituted vide order dated 20th September, 1999.

(2.) IN this writ petition, the petitioner is aggrieved by the order dated 25th February, 1999, contained in Annexure 1, whereby and whereunder the claim of her husband for grant of disability pension has been rejected.

(3.) IN short, the relevant facts are that the petitioners husband was enrolled in the Army on 6.6.1987 and invalidated out of service with effect from 5.5.1995 with ID GUN SHOT WOUNDS which were sustained at his home town while he was on annual leave. It so happened that there was some altercation between the brother of the petitioners husband and some other persons for boarding a tempo. The brother of petitioners husband alongwith some others were already going in the tempo when one Ashok Singh came and asked them to leave the tempo. The brother of the petitioners husband Yogeshwar Rai did not agree whereupon Ashok Singh threatened him with dire consequences. He alongwith his associates came to the village of the petitioners husband on the next day in the night and attacked Yogeshwar Rai and others upon which the petitioners husband with some villagers in order to defend them countered and fought with them. In course of this one villager died and the Petitioners husband received gun shot injury on account of which he became disabled. The petitioners husband was thereafter treated in Military Hospital, Danapur and Lucknow. The Medical Board of Command Hospital, Lucknow vide Annexure 6, declared the petitioners husband permanent handicapped and certified that the petitioners husband is a bonafide orthopaedically handicapped paraplegic person and cannot travel without the assistance of an escort. Thereafter, the petitioners husband was discharged from the service on 5.5.1995 whereupon he applied for grant of disability pension which has been rejected vide order dated 21.12.1996. The petitioner filed appeal against the said order which was rejected by the order dated 10.11.1997. The petitioner being aggrieved by the said orders filed a writ petition bearing C.W.J.C. No. 1547/98 which was disposed of vide order dated 16.12.1998, contained in Annexure 9. This Court on perusal of the order under challenge from which it did not appear that any of the authority considered the Rule quashed the order impugned and remitted the matter back to the appellate authority for reconsideration of the case of the petitioner in the light of the Rules and to pass a reasoned order. The petitioner was given liberty that if he feels aggrieved by the said decision it will be open for him to challenge the same. In pursuanoe to the said order of this Court the impugned order, as contained in Annexure 1, has been passed.