Supreme Court Warns Defence & Finance Secretaries For Not Deciding On Benefits For Cadets Disabled During Training

The Supreme Court on Tuesday criticised the Union government for failing to take a decision on extending monetary benefits to military cadets who are boarded out due to injury or disablement during training.“We had granted 6 weeks' time on January 20. However there has been no progress in the matter. We fail to understand why despite this court taking up the issue suo motu there has been no response from the Defence Ministry as well as the Finance Ministry”, the Court stated.A bench of Justice BV Nagarathna and Justice Ujjal Bhuyan gave the Union Defence Ministry and the Finance Ministry two weeks to take a decision on the recommendations of the military chiefs, warning that it may summon the Defence Secretary and the Finance Secretary if no progress is made.“Having regard to the fact that sufficient time has already been granted to the concerned ministries by us, we are constrained to observe that in case no progress is made in the matter, we would be constrained to direct the presence of the Defence Secretary and the Finance Secretary before this court”, the Court stated.The Court noted that it had already granted six weeks' time on January 20 for the ministries to consider the recommendations, but there had been no progress.The Court was hearing a suo motu case concerning the difficulties faced by such cadets.During the hearing, Additional Solicitor General Aishwarya Bhati informed the Court that although the Chiefs of the Army, Navy and Air Force had given positive recommendations on measures to improve the condition of the cadets, the Ministry of Defence and the Ministry of Finance had not yet taken a final decision.Justice Nagarathna expressed concern over the delay and said, “We will have to summon the secretaries here now.”Bhati requested the Court to first pass a direction giving the ministries time to decide the issue, submitting that she had tried her best to push the matter. “Before that a preemptive order may be passed that if a decision is not taken then the secretaries shall be summoned. I have tried my best my lords,” she said.Justice Nagarathna observed that the issue involved financial allocation and said the decision could still be taken while the Finance Act, 2026 was under consideration.“The monetary allocation is required that should have been part of the Budget. The Finance Act has not yet been passed so there is time”, she said. She indicated that the ministries should take a decision before the end of the month and suggested that a joint meeting between the Defence and Finance Ministries may be required, as the Defence Ministry would examine the matter but approval would have to come from the Finance Ministry. In its order, the Court observed that the Finance Act, 2026 was currently under consideration and this was the most appropriate time to account for the expenditure required to meet the monetary needs of such cadets.“Having regard to the fact that the Finance Act 2026 being under consideration, this is the most appropriate period for taking note of the expenditure required for meeting the monetary requirements of the outboarded cadets”, the Court said.The Court adjourned the matter for two weeks to enable the ministries to consider the recommendations of the three service chiefs and pass orders for extending the necessary monetary benefits to the cadets who are boarded out. The matter will now be heard on March 24 at 2 PM.BackgroundThe suo motu proceedings concern officer cadets who are discharged after suffering injuries during military training. The Supreme Court has previously noted that such cadets are boarded out without any recognised status and therefore do not receive the facilities available to soldier recruits discharged due to injury.Amicus Curiae Senior Advocate Rekha Palli had raised concerns that similar recommendations had been made by committees over the past decade but had not been implemented. She had suggested measures relating to medical assistance, financial support, education, resettlement and insurance, including recognising such cadets as ex-servicemen or creating a separate programme for them.The Court had earlier noted that the number of cadets boarded out during training is small, with about 40 cadets affected each year, and observed that the financial impact of extending benefits to them would be minimal.On December 16, 2025, the Court granted the Union Government time till January 20, 2026 to complete the process of considering recommendations for rehabilitating such cadets after Bhati informed the Court that the Indian Army, Navy and Air Force had given positive recommendations after examining the issue. The government had stated that the Ministry of Defence, in consultation with the Ministry of Finance, would take a final view and formulate a scheme.Thereafter, on January 20, 2026, the Court finally granted another six weeks' time to the Union to taken a final decision on the recommendations. Case no. – SMW(C) No. 6/2025Case Title – In Re: Cadets...

Supreme Court Warns Defence & Finance Secretaries For Not Deciding On Benefits For Cadets Disabled During Training

Amisha Shrivastava

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