Delhi High Court angry over Defense Ministry’s appeal against AFT decisions, warns of fine

New Delhi: Delhi High Court has given a strict warning to the Defense Ministry in a case. In fact, the ministry is repeatedly challenging court decisions in favor of ex-servicemen. The High Court has said that if this continues then a fine can be imposed. The High Court had commented in an order last week, ‘Why is the Defense Ministry repeatedly filing petitions in the High Court when the High Court has already upheld the decisions of the Armed Forces Tribunal (AFT). The court said that the ministry is raising the same legal questions again and again. The High Court had made this comment in a case filed by the army and the ministry. In this case, the grant of pension to a soldier of the Defense Security Corps was challenged. The High Court has already rejected more than 350 petitions filed by the government on this issue. Since 2023, the Army and the ministry have been challenging AFT decisions on pension and disability benefits in various high courts and the Supreme Court.

Supreme Court has also made strict comments

The Supreme Court has also raised questions about the Defense Ministry filing too many cases. The court had said that the government harasses people by filing unnecessary cases. In the year 2022, the Supreme Court had expressed displeasure over the government’s appeal in disability pension matters. Earlier this year, the court had ordered a compensation of Rs 50 lakh to the HIV positive soldier. This soldier was not given disability pension by the Army and AFT. Even in 2015, Prime Minister Modi had told the then Defense Minister Manohar Parrikar that the government was filing too many cases, find ways to reduce it.