1. - By this writ petition the petitioner is seeking disability pension with interest. Mr. Shyam Singh submitted that the petitioner was commissioned in the Army on 12.07.1967 and he was invalided out from service on 31.12.1991 on account of invaliding Disease Primary Retinal Pigmentary Dystrophy with Maculopathy in both eyes (377). At the time of enrolled he was fully fit. He had service at numbers of occasion war/operational areas and was awarded numbers of medels. He has also served in USSR and Czechoslowaka. While he was serving in hilly areas, his vision deteriorated. Consequently, he was admitted in 151 Base Hospital on 4.9.1990. Later on, he was shifted to Army Hospital Delhi Cantt. And at last, he was discharged on 31.12.1991, being in lowest medical category SHAPE-5 due to Primary Rentinal Dystrophy with Maculopathy both eyes (377). His degree of disability was assessed a 80%. After discharge his case was referred to for granting disability pension, but was rejected on the ground that disability was constitutional in nature and was neither attributable to nor aggravated by military service. It was further submitted that Invaliding Disease did not exist at the time of entry into service and it arose during service only is not sufficient to draw a conclusion that it should be regarded as attributable to service.

2. The respondents submitted detailed reply. Facts were basically not disputed. It was argued that the Invalidating Medical Board (IMB), which included medical specialists, had examined the petitioner along with his previous medical papers in the light of relevant medical provisions. The Specialists came to the conclusion that the Invaliding Disability was not connected with service. The view of the IMB was upheld when the matter was re-examined by the competent authorities at first and second appeal stage. Appeals were decided by the appellate Authorities on the basis of medical papers. An operative part is reproduced as under :

"ID was detected while the individual was serving the Mizo-Hills (Fd. area). The nature of disease is constitutional degenerative, progressing slowing and at time hereditary. No evidence of any STD infection, trauma in immediate post. There is no close time relation of ID with service conditions. The ID could have appeared and progress the 5 same was irrespective of whether he was in service or not. Unfortunately FD Area service and the claim by the individual or injury in 1972 appears to have no effect on ID, as opined by the consultant in Opthalmology on AFMSF 16. Hence, ID is not related to service in any way. The appeal merits rejection."

3. His Invalidating Medical Board was held on 27.2.1991 at Army Hospital Delhi Cant and the Board opined that disability was not connected with service, being a constitutional disease. As such, he did not fulfill one of the eligibility conditions (attributability/aggravation) for entitlement to disability pension as laid down in Regulation 48 of Pension Regulation for the Army s Part-I of 1961. For this reason, his disability pension claim was rejected by the Pension Sanctioning Authority. On the same reasoning, the first and second appeals, filed by the petitioner, were rightly rejected by the Appellate Authorities concerned.

4. I have heard both the parties at length and perused the record. Mr. Shyam Singh has argued that at the time of entry in the service the petitioner was fully fit and did not suffer from any disease but fell ill while serving operational/field area. He had served for almost 24 years 5 months and 20 days. The disease which led to the petitioner's discharge from service will be deemed to have arisen in service falls for acceptance due to stress and strain 5 of the service and also on aggravation, does not fall under the category of diseases which are normally affected by service. Mr. Shyam Singh has relied upon various judgments of this Court and the Supreme Court. On the contrary Mr. Sanjay Pareek opposed the writ petiti