The Delhi High Court upheld the decision of the Armed Forces Tribunal (AFT) granting disability pension to a retired Indian Air Force officer, HFO Ratnakar Mahala, diagnosed with Primary Hypertension after over 37 years of service.
The Division Bench comprising Justices C. Hari Shankar and Ajay Digpaul dismissed the Union of India’s writ petition challenging the AFT’s order. The government had contended that the officer’s hypertension was not attributable to or aggravated by military service, relying on the Release Medical Board’s (RMB) findings.
However, the Court ruled that in the absence of any medical evidence showing that the officer had hypertension at the time of recruitment, the presumption is that the disease developed due to military service. Citing UOI v. Ex Sub Gawas Anil Madso[1] and Bijender Singh v UOI[2], the Court reiterated that it is the employer’s burden to rebut the presumption that the illness is service-related, particularly when the disease appears after decades of service.
The Court highlighted that the officer’s declaration at the time of joining stated he had no prior health issues, and this was never disputed. It also observed that a writ court’s certiorari jurisdiction does not permit re-evaluation of factual findings unless there is a manifest error of law, which was not present in this case.
Emphasizing the liberal and beneficial interpretation of disability pension rules, the Court concluded that the AFT’s order did not suffer from any legal infirmity. It directed the authorities to comply with the Tribunal’s order within four weeks, if not already implemented.
[1] 2025 SCC OnLine Del 2018
[2] 2025 SCC OnLine SC 895
Petitioner: Mr. Sarvan Kumar, Sr. PC with Ms. Priya Dwivedi, Adv.
Respondent : None
