Battle Casualty Soldier During Kargil War Cannot Be Denied Benefits Because Injury Occurred Outside Kargil Sector: J&K&L High Court

The High Court of Jammu & Kashmir and Ladakh has held that a soldier who has admittedly been declared a Battle Casualty and invalidated out of military service during Operation Vijay cannot be denied ex-gratia financial assistance under a welfare scheme merely because his injuries were sustained outside the geographical limits of the Kargil Sector.Holding that beneficial schemes for disabled soldiers must receive a liberal and purposive interpretation, the Court ruled that the State cannot create artificial classifications among battle casualties on the basis of geographical location when the policy itself contains no such exclusion. Allowing a writ petition pending for nearly two decades, Justice Sanjay Parihar directed the Union of India to release ₹6 lakh as ex-gratia financial assistance from the National Defence Fund to an ex-serviceman who suffered grievous injuries during Operation Vijay and was subsequently invalidated out of service.The Court held that once the respondents themselves had consistently recognised the petitioner as a Battle Casualty and granted him war injury pension, denial of benefits under the welfare package dated 22 June 2000 was arbitrary and legally unsustainable. The petitioner, Ravi Kumar, an ex-Sepoy of the 8 Dogra Regiment, suffered severe injuries, including amputation through the right shoulder, partial mutilation of the left hand and extensive burn injuries, while serving in an operational area during Operation Vijay. Owing to these injuries, he was invalidated out of military service and classified by the Army authorities as a Battle Casualty. He was accordingly granted war injury pension and other admissible service benefits. Claiming that he was also entitled to the benefit of Communication dated 22 June 2000, which provided ex-gratia financial assistance of ₹6 lakh from the National Defence Fund to soldiers invalidated out of service due to battle casualties sustained during Operation Vijay, the petitioner approached the High Court after the benefit was denied to him. The Union of India opposed the petition, contending that although the petitioner had been duly recognised as a Battle Casualty and granted all admissible benefits, the particular welfare package was confined to soldiers who sustained injuries in the Kargil Sector during Operation Vijay. Since the petitioner's injuries were not suffered in the Kargil Sector, he was stated to be ineligible for the additional ex-gratia assistance, though he had already been paid ₹1 lakh under another applicable policy. Court's Observations:Rejecting the respondents' stand, the High Court observed that there was no dispute whatsoever regarding the petitioner's status as a Battle Casualty. The court said that the respondents themselves had consistently acknowledged that he had sustained battle casualty injuries during Operation Vijay and had invalidated him out of service on that basis and the only distinction sought to be drawn was with respect to the geographical location where the injuries were sustained. The Court held that the welfare package dated 22 June 2000 was conceived as a beneficial measure intended to provide financial assistance to soldiers permanently disabled during Operation Vijay and, therefore, deserved a liberal interpretation. Justice Parihar observed,"...The communication being a beneficial policy intended to provide succor to soldiers who suffered permanent disablement in the course of military operations, deserves to receive a liberal and purposive construction rather than a narrow or hyper-technical interpretation." The Court further held that once the respondents themselves had accepted the petitioner's status as a Battle Casualty, they could not deny him the benefit of a welfare measure by importing restrictive conditions not found in the policy itself.Emphasising the constitutional principles governing welfare legislation, the Court observed,"...Once the respondents themselves have accepted that the petitioner suffered a battle casualty and invalidated him from service on that basis, the benefit of a welfare measure intended for battle casualties cannot ordinarily be denied by introducing restrictive conditions which are not borne out from the plain language of the policy itself." The Court found that the respondents had failed to produce any material demonstrating that the communication expressly excluded battle casualties sustained outside the geographical limits of the Kargil Sector while participating in Operation Vijay. In the absence of such an exclusion, it held that reading such a limitation into the policy would defeat its very object. Justice Parihar further observed that creating distinctions between soldiers who had all been declared battle casualties merely because their injuries were sustained at different operational locations during the same military operation would offend the equality guarantee under Article 14 of the Constitution. The Court observed,"...A welfare policy framed...

Battle Casualty Soldier During Kargil War Cannot Be Denied Benefits Because Injury Occurred Outside Kargil Sector: J&K&L High Court

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Battle Casualty Soldier During Kargil War Cannot Be Denied Benefits Because Injury Occurred Outside Kargil Sector: J&K&L High Court

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