1. This writ petition is filed under Art.226 of the Constitution of India by the applicant in O.A. No.162 of 2023 on the file of the Armed Forces Tribunal, Regional Bench, Kochi ('the Tribunal' for short), challenging the order dated 12/09/2023, whereby the claim of the petitioner for invalid pension was dismissed.

2. The facts in brief which led to the filing of this writ petition are as follows: The petitioner was enrolled in the Indian Air Force on 20/12/1994 and was invalided out of service on 23/10/2002 due to 'Schizophrenia' assessed at 50% for life. The Medical Board opined that the disability was neither attributable to nor aggravated by military service. The claim of the petitioner for disability pension was rejected by the adjudicating authority, concurring with the opinion of the Medical Board. The statutory appeals preferred by the petitioner were also ended in rejection. Being aggrieved, the petitioner then preferred O.A. No.130 of 2010 before the Tribunal, which was dismissed vide Annexure A3 order dated 17/01/2013. According to the petitioner, he was ineligible for invalid pension at the time of his invalidment due to the stipulation of 10 years minimum service peri