Opinion of the Medical Board to be Final

Nafa Singh vs. Union of India

Filed Under: Article 226of the Constitution of India (1950)
Appellant: Nafa Singh
Respondent: Union of India
Citation: 2005 I AD (Delhi) 136
Court: In the High Court of Delhi
Judges: Dr. Mukundakam Sharma and Gita Mittal

Facts

Nafa Singh was enrolled in the Rajputana Rifles of the Indian Army. After about 6 years, he started having problems with his vision and was medically examined. On the basis of this examination he was invalidated from the Indian Army. He then filed this petition claiming entitlement to disability pension on the grounds that he was invalidated from military service.

He claimed that he was entitled to disability pension as per the terms of the Army Pension Regulations Part - 1. He also claimed that he had served a legal notice claiming entitlement to the disability pension, which was not granted. Therefore, he had filed this petition.

In response, the Indian Army claimed that Nafa had been admitted in the Military Hospital, Dehradun and had remained there for about 3 months. A Medical Board was held at the Military Hospital and the Board opined that he was suffering from "Atrophic Bulbi (RT)".

Consequently he was downgraded to low medical category. His further retention in the Army service was not recommended by the Commanding Officer and Nafa himself was not willing to continue to serve the Indian Army.

As a result he was discharged from service. It was further contended that a competent Medical Board had declared that the disability suffered by him was neither attributable nor aggravated by his Military service. The Board had assessed the disability at 30%.

It was contended that he was not eligible for grant of disability pension in accordance with Regulations 173 of Pension Regulations for Army Part - I.

The Indian Army also raised an objection that the writ petition filed by him was filed after a long delay and therefore should be barred. According to the Army, there was a lapse of more than 10 years between the rejection of his claim and filing of the present petition.

Observations of the Court

The Court examined the relevant Army regulations along with the report submitted by the Medical Board. On the basis of these the Court held that the views of the Medical Board were binding on the Army.

According to the Court, while stating that Nafa had suffered a permanent disability of 30% on the date of medical examination, the Board had specifically stated that he was suffering from a constitutional disease disconnected with military service.

Therefore, the Medical Board was of the opinion that his disease was neither attributable nor aggravated by military service.

The Court held that the findings and opinion of the Medical Board were questions of fact, authoritatively decided by experts on the subject and so there was no reason to disbelieve its opinion. In light of these reasons the Court held that there was no merit in the submissions made on behalf of Nafa and so the writ petition was dismissed.

Sections Referred:

Cases Referred:

  • Ex. Ct. Jasbir Singh and others vs. Union of India and others reported at 104(203) DLT 5
  • Ex. Sepoy Mohinder Singh vs. Union of India, Civil Appeal No.164/93
  • Om Prakash vs. Union of India and others, CW 2053/94
  • Ex. Signalman Shri Bhagwan Singh vs. Union of India, CW 3868/1993
  • Mohan Amba Prasad Agnihotri & Ors vs. Bhaskar Balwant Alter(d) through LRs., 2000 (2) SCALE 186
  • Raghunath Singh vs. Union of India and others, CW 1469/98
  • Union of India and another vs. Baljit Singh, 1996(11) SCC 315