Don’t deny ex gratia citing ailment, BSF told

R Sedhuraman

Legal Correspondent

New Delhi, May 28

The Delhi High Court has directed the Border Security Force (BSF) to pay ex gratia compensation to families of its personnel dying on active duty even if the cause turned out to be pre-existing ailments.

“The death of a force personnel due to heart attack suffered just after performing actual duty would be a case of an accidental death in the course of performance of duties,” a Bench comprising Justices Pradeep Nandrajog and Pratibha Rani ruled.

The HC delivered the verdict in a case filed by the wife of a BSF head constable Yatinder Singh, who had died of a heart attack after performing ambush-cum-patrolling duty on the Indo-Pak Line of Control in the Kutch area of Gujarat.

Posted with the 67th Battalion, Yatinder was on duty from 0030 hrs to 0630 hrs on December 16, 2010 and returned to the barrack around 0645 hrs and soon was found unconscious by his colleague who rushed him to the mini medical inspection room and subsequently to a civil hospital where he was declared brought dead.

Post mortem report showed that the cause was “cardio respiratory arrest” due to multi-organ diseases, particularly liver cirrhosis. BSF denied the ex-gratia payment of Rs 5 lakh to his wife Ram Devi as per two Office Memorandums (OMs), contending that his death was due to liver cirrhosis, not on account of duty. The OMs had been issued on September 11, 1998 and September 2, 2008 (amended).

“The two OMs are the beneficial face of the executive policy and therefore must receive a liberal interpretation,” the Bench ruled by “blending the statutory definition of active duty in the two OMs in harmony with the rule of interpretation.”