IN THE HIGH COURT OF PUNJAB AND HARYANA AT CHANDIGARH. Civil Writ Petition No. 5647 of 2008 DATE OF DECISION : APRIL 28, 2009 No.6578393 Ex. SEPOY NIHAL SINGH ....... PETITIONER(S) VERSUS UNION OF INDIA & ORS. .... RESPONDENT(S) CORAM : HON'BLE MR. JUSTICE AJAI LAMBA PRESENT: Mr. Surinder Sheoran, Advocate, for the petitioner(s). Ms. Amandeep Sandhu, Advocate, for respondents. AJAI LAMBA, J. (Oral) The petitioner, through this writ petition, prays for release of service pension or invalid pension, as applicable to the petitioner. Learned counsel for the petitioner has not been able to dispute the fact that the petitioner is not entitled to service pension as he had not completed the qualifying service. So far as invalid pension is concerned, learned counsel for the petitioner concedes that the claim for invalid pension was not made by the Civil Writ Petition No. 5647 of 2008 2 petitioner at any point in time. Learned counsel for the petitioner, however, contends that Regulation 197 [Part (b) and (c)] of the Pension Regulations for the Army, 1961 (for short 'the Regulations'), clearly indicates that the petitioner is entitled to invalid pension. Learned counsel for the respondents contends that the petitioner has not made any claim and, therefore, the writ petition itself is not maintainable as there is no denial of his right. I have considered the issue. In equitable jurisdiction, the court is required to consider whether the petitioner who, it seems was not aware of the provision and had not made any claim, has been deprived of his legal claims generated after serving in the Indian Army for more than 14 years. Regulation 197 of the Regulations (relevant portion) reads as under:- “197. Invalid pension/gratuity shall be admissible in accordance with the Regulations in this chapter, to - (a) xx xx xx xx xx (b) an individual who is though invalided out of service on account of a disability which is attributable to or aggravated service, but the disability is assessed at less than 20%, and (c) a low medical category individual who Civil Writ Petition No. 5647 of 2008 3 is retired/discharged from service for lack of alternative employment compatible with his low medical category.” Regulation 198 of the Regulations reads as under:- “198. The minimum period of qualifying service actually rendered and required for grant of invalid pension is 10 years. For less than 10 years actual qualifying service invalid gratuity shall be admissible.” A perusal of the Regulations, extracted above, indicates that that the petitioner's case was required to be considered by the respondents. Para-6 of Certificate of Service (Annexure P-1) indicates the following:- “6. Findings of re-survey Medical Board regarding aggravation/ decrease in disability : 11-14%.” It is not in dispute that the petitioner was discharged on the ground that his services were no longer required. It is further not disputed that the petitioner served for more than 14 years. Under Regulation 197(b) of the Regulations, extracted above, the petitioner would be entitled to invalid pension as he had been invalided out on account of a disability which, however, has been assessed at less than 20%. Under Regulation 197(c) of the Regulations, it has been provided that an individual in low medical category who has been retired/discharged from service for lack of alternative employment Civil Writ Petition No. 5647 of 2008 4 compatible with his low medical category, shall be entitled to invalid pension. Regulation 198 of the Regulations provides that minimum period of qualifying service actually rendered and required for grant of invalid pension is 10 years. When the two provisions i.e. Regulations 197 and 198 of the Regulations, referred to above, are read in conjunction, it becomes evident that the petitioner would be entitled to invalid pension. On account of the delay already caused, the relief can be modified and the petitioner can be allowed arrears confined to 38 months prior to the date of filing of the writ petition i.e. 3.4.2008. In view of the above, this writ petition is allowed to a limited extent with a direction to the respondents to consider the case of the petitioner for grant of invalid pension in view of what has been observed above and take a final decision thereon within 4 months of the receipt of a representation from the petitioner. The petitioner would be required to make a representation in regard to his claim within 30 days of receipt of a certified copy of this order. April 28, 2009 ( AJAI LAMBA ) Kang JUDGE