The Defence Ministry has no proposal to withdraw pending appeals against disability pensions and benefits. This was conveyed by Defence Minister Nirmala Sitharaman in a letter to Rajya Sabha MP Rajeev Chandrasekhar.
“At present there is no proposal to withdraw pending appeals in the Supreme Court,” Ms. Sitharaman said in the letter dated December 31, 2017 in response to Mr. Chandrasekhar’s July 2017 letter.
Former Defence Minister Manohar Parrikar had attempted to reduce litigations against veterans and serving personnel and had appointed an expert committee to study the issue.
Ms. Sitharaman said 16 of the 75 recommendations of the panel have been accepted. Another 16 were accepted in-principle requiring follow-up action in consultation with Service Headquarters (SHQ). “The remaining 43 require further examination in consultation with the SHQ, the Department of Personnel and Training and the Finance Ministry,” she said.
