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10. That means, there are clear materials to say that during the passing away of the father in 1989 the applicant was employed and could not claim family pension.

11. Now the applicant wants to impress the Tribunal that even during the period of his parents he had been showing signs of mental illness, but it was not addressed seriously because of the financial and social adverse circumstances of the family; only in 1995 a psychiatrist was consulted and treatment was arranged to him by the guardian and next friend. Elaborating Annexure-A1 with the aid of Anneure-A12 document, the learned counsel for the applicant submitted that at that time the applicant was taken to Dr.Ramakrishnan, a Psychiatrist as referred by Dr.Ganga. He had complaints of weakness, paranoid tendency, vague thoughts, inappropriate gestures, talking to himself and the Doctor had diagnosed him suffering from Schizophrenia with suspected duration of two years. According to the learned counsel, it may be true that the applicant might have been employed for sometime, but all were temporary engagements, because of the mental disability, which is congenital in nature; because of the mental disposition he never stuck to any vocation, ultimately he lost the jobs. Learned counsel also relied on the Annexure-A3 disability certificate issued by the National Institute of Mental Health and Neuro Sciences dated 12.01.2016 as well as Annexure-A6 disability certificate issued by the Medical Board of the District Hospital, Palakkad. In both the certificates he has been diagnosed as a person suffering from Paranoid Schizophrenia. In Annexure-A3 percentage of disability is 55 whereas the Medical Board of District Hospital, Palakkad has certified permanent disability of 50%. Learned counsel also submitted that he had features of such an ailment from the period of adolescence which had gradually developed when he grew up. According to the learned counsel, prior to 01.01.1990, there was no necessity of giving details of the family to the employer so that family constitution might not have been entered in the Pension Payment Order. Referring to Annexure- A11 she pointed out that the applicant is not in a position to obtain the certificate to the effect that he was suffering from mental illness on the date of death of the mother or the father. There is absolutely nothing in the Statute which insists that he shall be entitled to get family pension only if such a disability existed on the date of death of the mother or the father. According to her, a subsequent manifestation would also enable him to claim the benefit under Rule 54(6) of the CCS(Pension) Rules, 1972.

13. The claim of mental illness of the applicant could not be traced by the respondents owing to the non-production of material documents sought by the respondents. Such an application stood stuck by Annexure-A10 dated 11.05.2022, whereby it was informed that the crucial date for claiming family pension is the date of death of the employee or her spouse. Therefore, he was asked to produce certificate showing the date from which he has been suffering from mental disability. In this connection, Annexure-A11 Office Memorandum dated 27.01.2016 also was relied on. According to the applicant, it is practically impossible to procure such a document. Serious attempts were made by the learned counsel by placing literature explaining the characteristic features of the ailment namely, Paranoid Schizophrenia and submitted that due to the social and financial condition of the family, even though the applicant had demonstrated symptoms of such ailments in his early adolescence, that were gone unaddressed and proper treatments were not imparted. The mother was ill, the father was also invalid, so that his ailment was not properly taken care of.

14. Indisputably, Paranoid Schizophrenia is a chronic, severe and disabling brain disorder. A patient of the decease demonstrates an all round impairment of mental faculties; emotionally also he becomes flat and apathetic. It is no doubt a serious condition of destabilising mental equilibrium, requiring constant attention by the kith and kin. Such a patient deserves an empathetic treatment from all corners.

15. All the same, we cannot forget the fact that, in such a claim the burden of proof is heavily on the applicant. No document is forthcoming to show that he had traces of any such ailment during the life time of the parents. Annexure-A12 hints that signs of such ailment might have developed two years prior to 1995.