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New Delhi: The Armed Forces Tribunal has ruled that a brain haemorrhage suffered by a soldier while on duty can be attributable to military service, and cannot be dismissed as a consequence of alcohol consumption alone. Granting special family pension to the widow of an airman, the Tribunal held that service conditions—such as posting to higher-altitude areas and travel stress—must be factored in while deciding pensionary claims. The ruling came in the case of Jaswindra Singh, an Indian Air Force corporal who died due to an intracranial haemorrhage after being sent on official duty to Kurseong despite being unwell.

Medical Exemption Ignored

According to the case record, Corporal Jaswindra Singh had sought an exemption from duty on medical grounds, but his request was declined by the Air Force authorities. After travelling from Purnia to Kurseong, his health deteriorated rapidly. He was hospitalised and later died due to a brain haemorrhage.

Following his death, a special family pension was denied to his widow, with authorities contending that the death was not attributable to military service. The Air Force also argued that the airman had been a regular consumer of alcohol for six years and sought to attribute the medical condition solely to that factor.

Tribunal Rejects Narrow View

Rejecting this reasoning, the Tribunal’s Bench comprising Justice Suresh Kumar Gupta and Maj Gen Sanjay Singh (Retd) said the authorities had adopted a faulty and one-dimensional approach. “We make it clear that the death of the petitioner’s husband was not definitely due to regular alcohol consumption for the last six years. There could be other factors, such as high altitude and the fact that he had travelled from Purnia to Kurseong, etc. The competent authority has not considered this vital aspect,” the Bench observed.

The Tribunal emphasised that although Kurseong does not technically fall under the “high-altitude” category of 9,000 feet and above, it is significantly higher than Purnia, and such altitude change, combined with illness and travel, could reasonably aggravate medical conditions.

Death occurred in the course of official Duty.

Holding that the airman had died in the performance of bona fide official duty, the Tribunal ruled that the denial of a special family pension was unjustified. “It is abundantly clear that the petitioner’s husband passed away in performance of bona fide official duty and, as such, the action of the respondents in declining the claim for special family pension is faulty,” the Bench said.

The ruling reinforces the principle that service conditions and operational exigencies must be holistically assessed in military pension cases, and that attributing deaths solely to lifestyle factors without due consideration of duty-related stressors is legally unsustainable.