Bombay HC Rules Military Personnel with Diabetes and Hypertension Eligible for Disability Pension

Bombay HC Rules Military Personnel with Diabetes and Hypertension Eligible for Disability Pension

The Bombay High Court has delivered an important judgment in favour of retired Indian Army and Navy personnel suffering from medical conditions such as diabetes and hypertension, affirming their entitlement to disability pension. The court upheld multiple orders passed by the Armed Forces Tribunal (AFT), Mumbai, which had granted disability pension after concluding that these ailments were either caused by or aggravated during the course of military service.

The ruling was delivered on January 23, 2026, by a division bench headed by Chief Justice Shree Chandrashekhar and Justice Gautam Ankhad. The court emphasised that pension is not a government handout but a valuable legal right intended to provide socio-economic security to personnel who become medically unfit due to service-related conditions.

The Union of India had challenged the AFT orders, arguing that ailments such as diabetes and hypertension should be treated as lifestyle or constitutional disorders and therefore should not qualify for disability pension. The High Court rejected this argument, stating that merely branding a disease as lifestyle-related cannot be a valid ground to deny pension benefits, particularly when the condition develops or worsens during active military service.

Mumbai , 29 Jan : The bench further observed that it would be unreasonable to place the burden on military personnel to prove a direct causal link between their service conditions and ailments like hypertension or diabetes, as such proof is often difficult or impossible to establish. The court noted that the Armed Forces Tribunal had earlier granted disability pensions in several cases involving personnel who were invalided out of service or retired in a low medical category due to diseases attributed to or aggravated by service conditions.

By dismissing the government’s petitions and upholding the tribunal’s decisions, the Bombay High Court reinforced the principle that pension rules must be interpreted in a liberal and beneficial manner to safeguard the rights and welfare of ex-servicemen who have served the nation.

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