MoD to withdraw pleas against benefits to disabled soldiers - Times of India
CHANDIGARH: The ministry of defence (MoD) has decided to withdraw its appeals made before the Supreme Court against grant of disability benefits to soldiers by various courts and tribunals. Sources confirmed to TOI that instructions have already been issued not only to withdraw the pending appeals filed over the past few years but also to concede such “covered cases” of disability pension filed by aggrieved litigants in the apex court on a case-to-case basis. The development is significant not only for being an emotional issue, but also because the apex court as well as various high courts have expressed extreme anguish in the past over the MoD’s apparent inclination to challenge verdicts passed in favour of disabled soldiers by military tribunals or high courts. Anguished over the indiscriminate appeals filed by MoD against disabled soldiers, the courts had even suggested the Centre must “change its bureaucratic psyche”. Sources also confirmed that the development is an outcome of a meeting of defence minister Nirmala Sitharaman with a delegation led by MP Rajeev Chandrasekhar and two former members of MoD’s committee of experts — Major DP Singh, who was disabled in Kargil War, and high court lawyer Major Navdeep Singh. The issue was discussed in detail at the meeting after which Sitharaman indicated that orders would be issued within a month. Former defence minister Manohar Parrikar had constituted an experts committee to reduce litigation and streamline the grievance redressal system. The committee, which submitted its report in 2015, had come down heavily on the MoD, stating that litigation was being undertaken “compulsively, unethically and by way of administrative egotism”. Search for old postings at: http://www.mail-archive.com/accessindia@accessindia.org.in/ To unsubscribe send a message to accessindia-requ...@accessindia.org.in with the subject unsubscribe. To change your subscription to digest mode or make any other changes, please visit the list home page at http://accessindia.org.in/mailman/listinfo/accessindia_accessindia.org.in Disclaimer: 1. Contents of the mails, factual, or otherwise, reflect the thinking of the person sending the mail and AI in no way relates itself to its veracity; 2. AI cannot be held liable for any commission/omission based on the mails sent through this mailing list..
