Termination of service under Sashastra Seema Bal Rules requires a discretionary assessment of individual circumstances, emphasizing that procedural compliance and inability due to external factors must be considered.

JUDGMENT :

1.The impugned order dated June 18, 2025, directs the reinstatement of the petitioner, who was appointed as a Constable (General Duty) under the Sashastra Seema Bal, along with back wages. The facts leading to the termination of the petitioner's service have been succinctly recorded by the learned Single Bench and are summarised below:

2. The petitioner was appointed as a Constable (General Duty) [CT/GD] pursuant to an appointment letter dated 12.03.2021 under the Sashastra Seema Bal (SSB) and was posted to the 53rd Battalion, SSB, at Falakata-Simlabari, West Bengal. The appointment included a probationary period of two years, extendable by an additional two years for reasons to be recorded in writing. The appointment was further subject to the successful completion of the Basic Recruit Training Course (BRTC) conducted by the SSB. The petitioner was to be given two opportunities to pass the said training, failing which his services would be liable to termination.

3. Upon accepting the aforesaid terms and conditions, the petitioner reported to the Commandant, 39th Battalion, Palia, Uttar Pradesh, on 20.04.2021.

4. While undergoing the BRTC from 10.05.2021, the petitioner sustained a serious injury on 06.10.2021 during a mid-term test firing exercise at the SSB firing range in Shahjahanpur, Uttar Pradesh. A spent cartridge case, ejected from a co-trainee's rifle, struck his left eye. He was immediately taken to Sitarpur Eye Hospital, where corneal surgery was performed. He remained under treatment at Sitarpur Eye Hospital from 06.10.2021 to 13.10.2021 and again from 06.01.2022 to 31.01.2022, amounting to a total of 32 days of medical care. As a trainee who suffered a significant injury and remained out of training for over 30 days, he was relegated under Paragraph V of SOP No. 83/2024. However, contrary to Paragraph III of the said SOP, he was never referred to a Medical Board.

5. Due to incomplete recovery from the treatment received at Sitarpur Eye Hospital, the petitioner sought further medical attention at Shankara Nethralaya, Chennai, where he was under care from 22.04.2022 to 19.09.2022. Owing to his medical condition, he was placed in the SHAPE-II medical category. Subsequently, on 07.09.2023, the Medical Board declared him fit and reclassified him as SHAPE-I.

6. A Court of Inquiry (CoI) was convened in connection with the incident of 06.10.2021, which concluded that the injury sustained by Reg. No. 210800866 RCT/GD Himanshu Kumar of the 53rd Battalion was attributable to Government service in the course of discharging bona fide duties. The findings were accepted by the competent SSB authority, which further directed the provision of all necessary financial and medical assistance to the petitioner and instructed that he be allowed to complete the BRTC within the permissible two-year period.

7. Due to his medical condition, the petitioner was not sponsored for BRTC during his initial two-year service period. After his medical classification was upgraded from SHAPE-II to SHAPE-I, he was re-nominated for BRTC at Alwar with effect from 04.12.2023, pending consideration of a proposal for exemption from the two-year limitation by Headquarters.

8. The competent SSB authority informed the Deputy Inspector General (DIG), Centre, Alwar, that the Commandant (Personnel-II), FHQ SSB, New Delhi, via WAN/Fax message No