Supreme Court Directs Centre To Examine Amicus Suggestions For Rehabilitation Of Cadets Injured During Military Training

The Supreme Court on Tuesday directed the Union Government to consider suggestions made by Amicus Curiae Senior Advocate Rekha Palli to recognise and rehabilitate officer cadets who suffer disabilities during military training and are discharged before commissioning.A bench of Justice BV Nagarathna and Justice R Mahadevan observed that the out-boarded cadets have not been given any status or recognition and consequently lack appropriate facilities.“In this regard we would also observe that these out-boarded officers would have entered into their post as Commissioned officers at the entry level but as of now they have not acquired or given any status or recognition in regard to the injury sustained during training and consequently there has been lack of appropriate facilities and amenities that are being provided to such out-boarded cadets”, the Court observed.The Court noted the discrimination between soldier recruits and officer cadets discharged due to injury during training, observing that recruits receive monetary and other facilities that are not extended to cadets. The Court said there was a need for the system to first recognise and then devise a scheme covering monetary and health facilities for such cadets.“There is a need for the system to first of all recognise and thereafter to come up with a scheme for the benefit of such cadets both monetary as well as otherwise including health facilities etc…In the circumstances we request the learned ASG to place the copy of the written submissions and communicate the same to the concerned authorities in the service headquarters for them to accordingly carry out the afore stated exercise at the earliest and in the most befitting manner by first of all recognising the status and position of the out-boarded cadets in the entire scheme of training of the officers who but for the unfortunate injury sustained by them during training would have become commissioned officers in the respective services.”The Court added that the number of such out-boarded cadets is “absolutely minuscule”. “Hence it is expected that a scheme of facilities and amenities would be provided so these out-boarded cadets could be rehabilitated both medically as well as otherwise”, the Court stated.The Court was hearing the suo motu case concerning the difficulties faced by such boarded-out cadets. On the previous date, the Court had asked the Union to enhance monetary and insurance aid for them and to formulate a resettlement and medical reassessment scheme.Today, at the outset, Palli told the bench that about 40 cadets are boarded out every year and the small number has led to neglect of their concerns. She said the first step should be empathy, adding that disabled cadets are left without guidance once discharged. She suggested that they be treated as ex-servicemen so that they can access existing benefits. The amicus submitted a note proposing measures relating to medical assistance, financial support, education, resettlement and insurance for boarded-out cadets. Justice Nagarathna observed that even if they cannot be treated on par with ex-servicemen, a separate programme could be created for them.Palli submitted that while recruits who suffer disabilities during training receive disability pension, cadets are granted only ex-gratia payments. She said including the 699 such cadets and the 40 added annually under the ex-servicemen category would not create a financial burden. She pointed out that although cadets are now covered under the Ex-Servicemen Contributory Health Scheme (ECHS), their families are excluded from the benefits extended to families of ex-servicemen.Reading from a 2015 report of a committee headed by Lieutenant General (Retd.) Mukesh Sabharwal on service and pension matters that recommended replacing ex-gratia with disability pension, she highlighted that recruits training to become soldiers are treated as ex-servicemen but officer cadets are not. The report called it a “self-invented way to deny benefits”. She said the report also noted that cadets are often discharged midway through their bachelor-level courses and must fend for themselves without credit for their education.Palli told the Court that the same recommendation had been made thrice and would cost only about ₹2 crore annually to implement. She said it was unclear what action had followed the report.She further explained that the ex-gratia for officer cadets comprises disability and service elements, with the disability element calculated at officer rank but the service element fixed as per Group D rank, even though the cadets would have become Group A officers after completing the training. She said this was unlike recruits whose benefits are based on the pay of the post they would have joined after training.Palli presented a comparative chart showing that for 20% disability, the ex-gratia amount for out-boarded cadets is lower compared to out-boarded recruits. Justice Nagarathna observed that benefits...

Supreme Court Directs Centre To Examine Amicus Suggestions For Rehabilitation Of Cadets Injured During Military Training

Amisha Shrivastava

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