Govt fined for not producing Kargil papers

On Monday,Counsel for government,Col Balasubramaniam(retd),submitted the file was pending before the Secretary,Ministry of Defence,who was out of country and sought more time.

At this,Justice NP Gupta said: “ We had ordered on October 25,2010,to produce the documents. These documents will be produced today or we will impose a cost.” The court then imposed a cost of Rs 10,000. No disability pension for alcoholism.

The Tribunal has denied disability pension to a soldier for suffering from alcohol dependency syndrome.

Som Raj,who served in the Army for 17 years,was discharged on March 7,2001 with 40 per cent disability being suffering from alcohol dependency syndrome.

Raj argued that on account of nature of duties,stress and strain faced by him and while serving in adverse conditions,he suffered from depression and developed the habit of consuming alcohol. He added that the alcohol was issued free once or twice a week and on payment basis once in a week.

He took the ground that disability was attributable or aggravated by military service.

But the court observed: “The Medical Board has opined that disability has occurred due to voluntary alcohol abuse. Obviously,therefore,it is neither attributable to nor aggravated by military service.”