REPORTABLE

IN THE SUPREME COURT OF INDIA

CIVIL ORIGINAL JURISDICTION

Writ Petition(Civil)) No. 291 of 2010

Pushpa Vanti ..       Petitioner

-versus-

Union of India & others ..        Respondents

O R D E R

1. In this case we had issued notice to the respondents on 17.9.2010 but no  

counter affidavit has been filed.

2. The petitioner before us in the present case is a widow Pushpa Vanti,  

whose husband was an army major who had fought in three wars (in 1948, 1962  

and 1965) and was decorated with fourteen medals.  However, the petitioner is  

getting only Rs.80/- per month as pension, in these days when a kilogram of  

arhar dal costs that amount.  She has prayed for fixation of her correct pension  

and arrears.

3. The Indian armed forces are bravely defending the borders of the country,  

often  standing  on  guard  at  a  height  of  20,000  feet  and  in  minus  30oC  

temperature, day and night so that the people of India can live, work and sleep in  

peace.

4. However, there is widespread discontent among the serving and former  

members of the armed forces (by which we mean the Army, Navy and Air Force)  

and their widows and family members regarding their service conditions e.g. pay  

scales,  allowances,  anomalies  regarding  pensions,  inadequate  pension  

(particularly  to  those  disabled  while  in  service),  widows  benefits,  promotion  

matters (including promotion policy and process) etc..  They have a feeling that  

the  bureaucrats  do  not  care  for  them  and  do  not  properly  address  their  

grievances.  As a result, thousands of ex- armed forces personnel have returned  

their medals, and some have even burnt their artificial limbs.   

5. These grievances include the grievances relating to pay, allowances, one  

rank one pension, other pension matters, suitable benefits to be granted to war  

veterans,  war  widows,  promotion  matters,  rehabilitation  of  soldiers  who  are  

discharged at a young age, etc.

6. In a recent panel discussion `We The People’ on NDTV channel some of  

these grievances were highlighted.    

7. Our courts of law are flooded with cases relating to members, both serving  

and retired, of the armed forces e.g. cases relating to pension, promotion, etc  

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and the obvious reason is that the armed forces personnel have a feeling that  

their grievances are not being properly addressed.

 8. The  great  Prime  Minister  of  Magadha,  Chanakya,  told  Emperor  

Chandragupta Maurya :

“Pataliputra rests each night in peaceful  comfort,  O King, secure in the  

belief that the distant borders of Magadha are inviolate and the interiors are safe  

and secure, thanks only to the Mauryan Army standing vigil with naked swords  

and eyes  peeled for  action,  day and night,  in  weather  fair  and foul,  all  eight  

praharas  (i.e.  round  the  clock),  quite  unmindful  of  personal  discomfort  and  

hardship, all through the year, year after year.

To this man, O Rajadhiraja, you owe a debt: please, therefore, see to it,  

suo motu, that the soldier continuously gets his dues in every form and respect,  

be they his needs or his wants, for he is not likely to ask for them himself.

The  day  the  soldier  has  to  demand  his  dues  will  be  a  sad  day  for  

Magadha; for then, on that day, you will have lost all moral sanction to be king!”   

9. Today our ex-soldiers have not only been demanding but are agitating to  

get their legitimate dues.  They were compelled to resort to public protests and  

even return their War-medals and burn their artificial limbs, as was done by Capt.  

C.S. Sidhu whose right arm was amputated while serving at the front but was  

getting a pittance as pension (see judgment of this Court in  Union of India &  

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Anr.  vs.  C.S. Sidhu in Civil Appeal No.4474 of 2005 dated 31st March, 2010).  

This, in our opinion, is not good for the nation.  The armed forces personnel  

should have a feeling that their grievances are heard by an independent body.  

Even if some of their demands are not accepted, they will have a feeling that they  

were given a proper hearing.  

10. We, therefore, direct the Central Government to set up within two months  

from today a Commission which shall be called the Armed Forces Grievances  

Redressal Commission.

11. This Commission will look into any grievances (sent to them in writing or  

by e-mail) by serving or former members of the armed forces (i.e. Army, Navy  

and  Air  Force)  or  their  widows  or  family  members  and  make  suitable  

recommendations expeditiously to the Central Government in this connection.   

12. The  Commission  will  also  frame  and  recommend  to  the  Central  

Government  a  scheme  for  proper  rehabilitation  of  discharged  soldiers.   At  

present the position is that a soldier is ordinarily recruited at the age of about 18  

years, and if he does not rise above the rank of Jawan he is discharged after 15  

years of service.  If he is promoted, his tenure is extended on each promotion.  

Thus, if he reaches the rank of Havildar but no further he will retire after 22 years  

of service, i.e. at the age of 40.  Thus a soldier is retired when he is in the prime  

of  life.   During his service he spends only  about  2 months per year  with his  

family.  There is no doubt a Resettlement Directorate in the Army Headquarters,  

but we are informed that it is not a very effective body.  If a soldier is discharged  

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between the age of 35-45  how will he support his family ?  At that age he is likely  

to have a wife and children.  Hence he should be given alternative employment  

so that he can support his family.  The Commission will go into this matter also in  

detail  and  suggest  appropriate  schemes  for  rehabilitation  of  ex-armed forces  

personnel who are retired at a relatively young age.

13. The aforesaid Commission shall consist of the following members :

1. A  retired  Judge  of  the  Supreme  Court  of  India  as  the  

Chairman of the Commission.

The   first   Chairman   shall  be  Hon’ble Mr. Justice  Kuldip  

Singh, former Judge, Supreme Court.

2. A  former  Chief  Justice  of  the  High  Court  as  the  Vice  

Chairman  of  the  Commission.   The  Vice  Chairman  will  

officiate as the Chairman in absence of the Chairman.  

The   first   Vice  Chairman    shall   be  Hon’ble  Mr.   Justice  

S.S.  Sodhi,  retired  Chief  Justice   of   the  Allahabad High  

Court.

3. A  retired  Chief  of  Army  staff  as  a  Member  of  the  

Commission.

We  appoint  General  V.P.  Malik,  retired  Chief  of Army  

staff, to be a Member of the Commission.

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4. Any retired Chief or Vice Chief or Deputy Chief of the Army,  

Navy or Air Force as a Member of the Commission.  

In the first Commission we appoint Lt. General Vijay Oberoi,  

retired  Vice  Chief  of  Army  Staff,   to   be a Member of the  

Commission(General  Oberoi  is  the  Douglas  Bader  of  the  

Indian  Armed Forces,  his  one  foot  having  been shot  and  

later amputated due to a burst  of machine gun fire in the  

1965 Indo-Pak war, when he was a young Captain.  Despite  

this he rose to become a Lt. General and Vice Chief of the  

Army).  

5. A civil servant, whether serving or retired, as a Member of  

the  Commission,  to  be  appointed  by  the  Central  

Government, at its discretion.

14. The term of the first Commission will be for two years from the date of its  

constitution but it will be renewable at the option of the Central Government.  The  

subsequent  Commission  members  (after  the  two  year  term  of  the  first  

Commission has expired) shall be appointed by the Central Government.

15. Since most of the aforesaid members in the first Commission are based in  

Chandigarh hence we direct that the headquarters of the Commission shall be at  

Chandigarh.  For this purpose a suitable building will be allotted at the earliest at  

Chandigarh by the Union Territory of Chandigarh in consultation with the Central  

Government which will be used as the office-cum-secretariat of the Commission.  

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This building must have sufficient rooms to provide an office for each member of  

the Commission.   The Central  Government will  allot  adequate secretarial  and  

other  staff  and infrastructure and equipment (including computers,  telephones  

etc.) for the office and members of the Commission as desired by the Chairman.

16. In addition to the headquarters of the Commission at Chandigarh there will  

also be set-up offices of the Commission at Delhi and such other places as the  

Chairman  of  the  Commission  may  direct.  The  Central  Government  and  

concerned State Governments/Union Territories will provide the necessary staff  

and infrastructure as the Chairman may direct for this purpose.

17. All the members of the Commission shall sit together whenever issues of  

general  importance are to be considered.  However,  in any matter relating to  

individuals or a few persons only the Chairman can appoint a smaller Committee  

consisting of one or more members as he decides.

18. As regards their salary, allowances and other benefits the members of the  

Commission shall receive what the present incumbents holding posts equivalent  

to those held by them at the time of their retirement are now entitled to.  They will  

also be given traveling and such other allowances as the Chairman decides if  

they have to travel to other places away from Chandigarh.  The fifth member, if a  

retired person, will also get the same.

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19. We make it clear that this Commission is different from the Armed Forces  

Tribunal in the following ways :

1. The Commission is only a recommendatory body and not an  

adjudicatory  body.   Hence  it  is  open  to  the  Central  

Government to accept or not to accept its recommendations,  

though  of  course  since  such  recommendations  will  be  

coming from a high powered body the Central Government  

must give due weight to the same.

2. Whereas the Armed Forces Tribunal can only decide cases  

in  accordance  with  the  rules,  the  Commission  can  

recommend even change of the rules where it feels that the  

same  are  defective  or  inadequate.   In  other  words,  the  

Commission is not  confined to following the relevant  rules  

relating  to  service  conditions,  pension,  etc.  but  it  can  

recommend change of the same where it feels that the same  

are defective or inadequate.

      20. We further  direct  all  authorities  in  India,  Civil  or  Military  (including  the  

Secretary, Defence, Union of India, and the Chiefs of the Army, Navy and Air  

Staffs) to extend all cooperation to the Commission to enable it to discharge its  

functions effectively.

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21. The notification constituting the Commission as provided above will  be  

issued by the Central government forthwith.   

22. The  claim  of  the  petitioner  in  this  case  shall  stand  referred  to  the  

Commission.  The Registry of this Court shall send copies of the papers of this  

case forthwith to  the members of  the Commission nominated by us,  and the  

petitioner’s  claim  shall  be  considered  expeditiously.   Claims  of  other  armed  

forces personnel (serving or retired) should also be considered expeditiously.  

23. List this case again on 7.2.2011.   

……………………………..J. (Markandey Katju)

…………………………….J. (Gyan Sudha Misra)

New Delhi; 15 Nov, 2010

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