The main legal point established in the judgment is the entitlement to disability pension and service pension under the Indian Army Act and Rules, as well as the Pension Regulation for the Army, 1961, based on the assessment of disability, minimum qualifying service, and the entitlement to the service element of pension in cases of disability attributable to military service.

1. Through the medium of this appeal, writ petitioner-appellant has assailed the judgment of the learned Single Judge dated 12.10.2006 passed in SWP No. 126/2003, titled Murti Devi v. Union of India and others (for short, impugned judgment), whereby and whereunder husband of the writ petitioner-appellant was held entitled to the disability pension with effect from 1956 to 1977 while the claim of the writ petitioner-appellant for entitlement of service pension was rejected.

2. The facts, in brief, on the basis of which instant appeal has been filed are as under:-

3. The husband of the writ petitioner-appellant, namely, Sepoy Narpat Ram, resident of village Jassor, Tehsil R.S.Pura, District Jammu was enrolled in the Indian Army on 27.01.1943 and was thereafter transferred to Dogra Regiment with effect from 01.11.1947. It is claimed that during his tenure in the army, he sustained injury "Dislocation Elbow Left 596" of severe nature on 27.01.1949 while practicing high jump in the Unit playground. On his examination by the Medical Board, his disability was assessed to be at 20% and found attributable to military service. Owing to the injuries sustained by him, the husband of the petitioner was boarded out of service w.e.f. 26.04.1950 under Indian Army Act and Rules 138 III(iv) and Release Regulations Indian Army, 1946. The said soldier was sanctioned disability pension as admissible under rules initially for two years and Re-survey Medical Board re-examined the husband of the writ petitioner-appellant in April, 1956, who again re-assessed his disability at 20%. The disability pension in favour of the deceased was stopped w.e.f. 02.03.1956 by the Pension Sanctioning Authority, i.e. Chief Controller of Defence Accounts (P) Allahabad and the husband of the petitioner appears to have moved representation claiming continuance of his disability pension taking the plea that Pension Sanctioning Authority could not have gone against the opinion of the Medical Board which had assessed disability at 20%. Nothing seems to have happened in the matter till 1977 when re-survey Medical Board was arranged by respondents at Military Hospital, Jammu and the said Board assessed the disability of husband of the writ petitioner-appellant as reduced to 0% (permanent). As a consequence of recommendation made by the Board, Pension Sanctioning Authority ultimately rejected the case of the husband of the writ petitioner-appellant on 03.06.1977 and even the appeal filed then by the deceased did not yield any result.

4. It may be pointed out that the husband of the writ petitioner-appellant died on 07.11.1982 and after his death writ petitioner-appellant claimed family pension and she, however, appears to have represented in this regard on 14.07.1992 requesting the authorities to grant family pension in her favour being widow of the army personnel, but no decision was taken by the authorities on the said representation filed by the writ petitioner-appellant. She, therefore, filed writ petition (SWP No. 126/2003) claiming interalia following two reliefs:-

(a) Release of disability pension of the deceased-husband; and

(b) Release of service pension of the deceased-husband.

5. As is apparent from the judgment of learned Single Judge, pleas of the writ petitioner-appellant raised in the writ petition were not found tenable. The husband of the writ petitioner-appellant was not held entitled to disability pension after 1977 as his disability had been reduced to 0% (permanent). Learned Single Judge did not find him entitled to service pension on the ground that on the date he was boarded out of service, he did not have minimum qualifying service to his credit. He had merely served the Indian army for a period of seven years whereas minimum qualifying service for grant of service pension to the army personnel is 15 years. On this account, learned Single Judge dismissed the writ petition of the writ petitioner-appellant for grant of service pension as well