Delhi High Court - Orders
Union Of India vs Ex. Capt. Akshay Mohan Molpha on 9 April, 2026
$~86
* IN THE HIGH COURT OF DELHI AT NEW DELHI
+ W.P.(C) 4671/2026, CM APPL. 22812/2026, CM APPL.
22813/2026 and CM APPL. 22814/2026
UNION OF INDIA .....Petitioner
Through: Mr. Nishant Mittal, SPC with
Mr. Anshul Garg, Adv.
versus
EX. CAPT. AKSHAY MOHAN MOLPHA .....Respondent
Through: Mr. Amit Tiwari, CGSC, Mr.
Varun Pratap Singh, GP, Ms.
Ayushi Srivastava, Mr. Ayush
Tanwar, Mr. Kushagra Malik,
Advs. along with LT Col Varun
Kumar & Maj AS Bhuttar
CORAM:
HON'BLE MR. JUSTICE ANIL KSHETARPAL
HON'BLE MR. JUSTICE AMIT MAHAJAN
ORDER
% 09.04.2026
1. The only issue in the present Writ Petition is with respect to entitlement of the Respondent to disability pension.
2. The present Writ Petition has been filed more than two years after the impugned order was passed by the Armed Forces Tribunal.
3. Learned counsel representing the Petitioner submits that the Respondent is not entitled to disability pension as he had resigned from service. A reading of Paragraph 11 of the Impugned Order reflects that the applicant in O.A. No.603/2014 captioned Maj(Retd) Charanjit Singh Medi vs. UOI & Ors., was granted disability pension on the basis of a judgment of the Supreme Court in Civil Appeal No. 418/2012 captioned Union of India & Anr. Vs. Ram Avtar. The This is a digitally signed order.
The authenticity of the order can be re-verified from Delhi High Court Order Portal by scanning the QR code shown above. The Order is downloaded from the DHC Server on 10/04/2026 at 22:24:54 relevant extract of the order dated 09.02.2016, reads as under:-
"2. In this behalf the respondents have placed on record the Government policy dated 22.11.2001. In terms of the policy it is conveyed that no pension is entitled to an officer leaving the Army before he becomes eligible for pension/gratuity. When an officer seeks to resign voluntarily, irrespective of the length of service he is required to forfeit his gratuity/pension. Therefore, he is not entitled to disability pension. The argument per se seems to be misconceived. Disability pension is granted to a person who has suffered disability attributable to service during the course of his service in the Army.
3. The object of giving disability pension is to compensate the person, who has suffered disability, after he leaves the service. It has no nexus with normal pension. A person is entitled to pension when he completes his pensionable service. Moreover, this issue is no longer res integra, in view of the decision of Mahavir Singh Narwal Vs. Union of India and Anr. decided on 05.05.2014 2005(1) SLJ1I33 Delhi. Same judgment has been relied upon by the Regional Bench at Chandimandir in Kamikkar Singh...Vs. Union of India in OA 67/2014. The co-ordinate Bench of this Tribunal has observed as under:
"In the Fourth Instance, the denial in Sep 2013 is based on the ground that no pension is admissible on resignation. The issue regarding grant of disability pension to those who resign on compassionate grounds had at this point of time already been settled in the case of Mahavir Singh Narwal in 2012 (supra as brought out in para 6.
4. The Tribunal has relied upon the para 6 of the case Mahavir Singh Narwal Vs. Union of India which is reproduced herein below:
"On careful perusal of the aforesaid rule it is manifestly clear that invalidated from service is necessary condition for grant of disability pension. What has to be seen for entitlement for disability pension is whether an individual at the time of his release was in a low medical category than that in which he was recruited. If it was so, then such person will be treated as invalidated from service.
5. In view of this, we allow the petition and direct the respondents that the disability pension be paid to the petitioner from the date of his retirement 1.e. from 07.04.2007 but he will be given arrears only for the last three years from the date of his application. In terms of the judgment dated 10.12.2014 of the apex court in Civil Appeal No.418 of 2012 UOI Vs. Ram Avtar, the petitioner will be entitled to rounding off upto 50% along with interest of 8% per annum. Let this process be completed within a period of three months from today."
This is a digitally signed order.
The authenticity of the order can be re-verified from Delhi High Court Order Portal by scanning the QR code shown above. The Order is downloaded from the DHC Server on 10/04/2026 at 22:24:54
4. The Respondent was thus, held entitled to the disability pension in terms of the verdict of the Supreme Court in Ram Avtar (Supra).
5. Keeping in view the aforesaid position, this Court finds no ground to interfere. The present Writ Petition is, accordingly, dismissed.
6. All pending applications also stand closed.
ANIL KSHETARPAL, J.
AMIT MAHAJAN, J.
APRIL 09, 2026/sp/ad This is a digitally signed order.
The authenticity of the order can be re-verified from Delhi High Court Order Portal by scanning the QR code shown above. The Order is downloaded from the DHC Server on 10/04/2026 at 22:24:54