-1- Civil Writ Petition No.10451 of 2007. IN THE HIGH COURT FOR THE STATES OF PUNJAB & HARYANA AT CHANDIGARH Date of Decision: March 27 ,2008. Ex Sepoy Bhola Ram ... Petitioner VERSUS Union of India and others ... Respondents CORAM : HON'BLE MR.JUSTICE HEMANT GUPTA. HON'BLE MR.JUSTICE MOHINDER PAL. 1. Whether Reporters of Local papers may be allowed to see the judgment ? 2. To be referred to the Reporters or not ? 3. Whether the judgment should be reported in the Digest ? Present: Mr. A.S. Bhatti, Advocate, for the petitioner. Ms. Ranjana Shahi, Advocate, for the respondents. -.- MOHINDER PAL, J. Brief facts of the case are that the petitioner was initially enrolled in the Army Medical Corps on February 03, 1970. He was promoted to the rank of Naik with effect from -2- Civil Writ Petition No.10451 of 2007. March 01, 1989. He was discharged from service on February 29, 1990 under Rule 13 (3) III (i) of Army Rules, 1954 on fulfilling the conditions of enrolment. He was granted service pension for life with effect from March 01, 1990. The petitioner got himself re-enrolled in Defence Security Corps (for short `D.F.C) on October 10, 1990 as Sepoy after he was found medically fit. He was posted at various stations and performed security duty in various Ammunition Depots, Air Force Stations and Headquarters, in field and peace areas. Normal superannuation age for D.S.C personnel is 55 years. Further extension of two years enhanced period of service is granted subject to fulfilment of eligibility conditions as determined by the Screening Board. One of the eligibility conditions is that the individual should not be in Permanent Low Medical Category. As the petitioner had been placed in Permanent Low Medical Category, he was not found eligible for extension of two years' enhanced period of service. Therefore, he was brought before the Release Medical Board held on September 12, 2001 at Military Hospital, Jodhpur, to assess his medical condition before his discharge from D.S.C service. The Release Medical Board, after examining the petitioner, had diagnosed him a case of (1) “ Cervical Spondylosis 721' and (2) “Unspecified Psychosis 298” and assessed the degree of first and second disabilities at 20 % each with composite assessment of -3- Civil Writ Petition No.10451 of 2007. both the disabilities assessed at 40 %. The Release Medical Board had placed the petitioner in Permanent Low Medical Category S2 H1 A1 P3 E1. The petitioner was discharged from D.S.C on February 28, 2002. The claim of the petitioner for disability pension was rejected on the ground that in the opinion of the Release Medical Board, both the disabilities were neither attributable to nor aggravated by military service and not connected with service. However, on appeal dated February 11, 2003, preferred by the petitioner, ist disability i.e “ Cervical Spondylosis 721' was regarded as aggravated by military service and the degree of disablement was viewed at 20 % for life. He was released disability pension at the rate of 20 %. However, the second disability i.e “Unspecified Psychosis 298” was viewed as neither attributable to nor aggravated by military service by the Appellate Committee. In this petition filed under Articles 226/227 of the Constitution of India, the petitioner has prayed for issuance of a writ in the nature of certiorari to quash the orders whereby his disability pension claim for the second disability i.e “Unspecified Psychosis 298” has been rejected. He has also prayed for issuance of a writ in the nature of mandamus directing the respondents to grant disability pension for disability on account of the disease “Unspecified Psychosis 298” as well. In the reply filed by the respondents, they have justified the impugned orders on the ground that the disability -4- Civil Writ Petition No.10451 of 2007. “Unspecified Psychosis 298” is not at all attributable to or aggravated by military service. We have heard Mr.A.S. Bhatti, Advocate, appearing for the petitioner and Ms. Ranjana Shahi, Advocate, appearing for the respondents and have gone through the records of the case. Learned counsel for the petitioner has argued that rejection of the claim of the petitioner for the grant of disability pension for the disease “Unspecified Psychosis ” is illegal and arbitrary as there is specific mention of disease “Psychosis and Psychoneurosis” in Annexure III to Appendix II, referred to in Regulation 173 of the Army Pension Regulations, 1961 (Paert-I), 1961 (for short `the Pension Regulations'). Appendix II, referred to in Army Regulation 173, contains Entitlement Rules for Casualty Pensionary Awards, 1982. Annexure III to Appendix II mentions Classification of Diseases. At Clause B, list of Diseases Affected by Stress and Strain are mentioned. The disease “Psychosis and Psychoneurosis” is mentioned in Clause B at serial No.1. The disease mentioned as “Psychosis and Psychoneurosis” in Annexure III to Appendix II ibid or “Unspecified Psychosis”, from which the petitioner is suffering, is one and the same. Psychosis means mental illness and neurosis means a mental state resulting in high level of anxiety, unreasonable fears and behaviour. It is, thus, clear that the disease “Unspecified Psychosis”, suffered by the -5- Civil Writ Petition No.10451 of 2007. petitioner, is included in the list of Diseases Affected by Stress and Strain mentioned in Annexure III to Appendix II ibid. Therefore, the action of the respondents in declining disability pension to the petitioner for the disease “Unspecified Psychosis”, which is attributable to and aggravated by Amy service, cannot be upheld. Accordingly, the orders passed by the respondents in this regard are set aside. For the aforesaid reasons, this writ petition is allowed and the petitioner is held entitled to 20% disability pension on account of the disease “Unspecified Psychosis” suffered by him during Army service. He has already been granted 20% disability pension for the disease “Cervical Spondylosis”. However, the petitioner having been discharged from D.S.C on February 28, 2002 because of the diseases “Cervical Spondylosis” and “Unspecified Psychosis”, in view of the letter dated February 03, 2000 issued by the Government of India, Ministry of Personnel, Public Grievances & Pensions, Department of Pension & Pensioners' Welfare, New Delhi, whereby in case of percentage of disability assessed at less than 50 %, the percentage for computation of disability pension is to be reckoned as 50 %, the petitioner is held entitled to disability pension at the rate of 50 %. This pension, with all consequential benefits, will be paid to him from the date of his retirement. The respondents shall pay all the arrears to the petitioner within two months from the date of receipt of a copy of -6- Civil Writ Petition No.10451 of 2007. this order, failing which the petitioner will be entitled to interest at the rate of nine per cent annum. ( HEMANT GUPTA ) ( MOHINDER PAL ) JUDGE JUDGE March 27, 2008. ak