UNION OF INDIA AND ORS vs 712071 SGT BIRENDRA KUMAR RETD

Judgment text excerpt

$~69 * IN THE HIGH COURT OF DELHI AT NEW DELHI % Date of Decision : 29.01.2026 + W.P.(C) 1224/2026 CM APPL. 5974/2026 CM APPL. 5975/2026 UNION OF INDIA AND ORS .....Petitioner Through: Ms. Bhavya Tyagi, SPC versus 712071 SGT BIRENDRA KUMAR RETD .....Respondent Through: Ms. Deepika Sheoran, Mr. Baljeet Singh, Mr. Abhishek Gahlyan, Advs CORAM: HON'BLE MR. JUSTICE V. KAMESWAR RAO HON'BLE MS. JUSTICE MANMEET PRITAM SINGH ARORA MANMEET PRITAM SINGH ARORA, J. (ORAL) CM APPL. 5975/2026 (exemption) 1. Exemption is allowed, subject to all just exceptions. 2. The application stands disposed of. W.P.(C) 1224/2026 & CM APPL. 5974/2026(Stay) 3. This is a writ petition filed under Article 226 of the Constitution of India against the order dated 02.01.2024 passed by the Armed Forces Tribunal Principal Bench, New Delhi [‘Tribunal’] in Original Application [‘O.A.’] No. 1585/2019 titled as Ex SGT Birendra Kumar v. Union of India & Ors., wherein the respondent has been granted the benefit of the disability element of pension for Paranoid Schizophrenia (Old) assessed at 40% for life, rounded off to 50% for life from the date of his discharge from Signature Not Verified W.P.(C) 1224/2026 Page 1 of 9 Signed By:MOHIT Signing Date:09.02.2026 19:02 the service i.e., 31.12.2018. 4. The facts giving rise to the present petition are that the respondent was discharged from the service on 31.12.2018 under clause ‘on fulfilling the conditions of his enrolment’. At the time of discharge, the Release Medical Board [‘RMB’] assessed his disability i.e., Paranoid Schizophrenia (Old) at 40% for life. The RMB opined that since the onset of the diseases was at the time when the respondent was serving at a peace station and there was no severe physical stress, the aforesaid disability was neither attributable