Tribune News Service
Chandigarh, August 20
In a strong but emotional judgment,
the Chandigarh Bench of the Armed Forces Tribunal (AFT) has conveyed to the
Ministry of Defence and the Army that their frivolous appeals against pension
of disabled soldiers are causing great distress to the system and shaking the
faith of the common man in the rule of law.
The AFT, headed by Justice Surinder
Singh Thakur, has said that it would recover costs from the officers taking
decisions to file such frivolous appeals.
The Tribunal was hearing an
application for “leave to appeal” filed by the Army against an AFT decision
that had granted a disabled soldier, Yashwant Singh Bharmouria, disability
pension based on the applicable rules and Supreme Court decisions. The benefits
had earlier been refused to him by the Army. A certificate of leave to appeal
certifying that the case involves a question of general public importance is
mandatory before an appeal can be filed in the SC.
The Tribunal held that the issue
stands well settled by at least nine full-fledged judgments of the SC,
including a three-judge Bench decision and yet appeals were being filed against
disabled soldiers. The Tribunal also rejected the contention that the Army’s
medical board is to determine the eligibility for pension, stating that it is
the rules which are to determine the eligibility of disability pension and the
medical boards are supposed to work within the four corners of the rules.
The AFT has strongly reacted to
indiscriminate appeals filed by the MoD in such matters leading to delay in
harvesting the fruits of litigation with the “progeny looking at empty coffers
of their parents”. Recalling an SC decision, the Tribunal has reminded the
government that they should become a responsible litigant and not file
vexatious appeals.
The Tribunal’s order also held that
such frivolous litigation leads to wastage of public time and injury to the
disabled soldiers, which cannot be compensated in terms of money. “The dockets
of the court are rising at the cost of the pockets of poor litigants and it
becomes unbearable for them to approach the highest court of the land to defend
such frivolous appeals and it causes untold miseries to them,” the Tribunal
observed.
The AFT
has concluded that it would not shy away from imposing exemplary costs
recoverable from the pockets of officers who file such frivolous applications
and review petitions without merit or due application of mind on issues already
settled by the SC.
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