Widow of decorated Colonel battles for special pension

Tribune News Service

Vijay Mohan

Chandigarh, March 12

For several years, she helped her husband, a battle-decorated Special Forces officer, combat cancer, but she is now waging a different battle for grant of pensionary benefits after he succumbed to the disease.

The officer, a Colonel at the time of his death, was commissioned into the Special Forces in June 2002. While in service, he was diagnosed with ‘Metastatic Osteosarcoma with Lung Metastases’ in July 2018 and the cancer aggressively spread within a short period.

The medical authorities had to amputate his right hand to limit the spread of the disease further. Unfortunately, he could not recover and died in April 2020 as a result of the disability, which was declared “neither attributable to, nor aggravated by the military authorities.

In a petition filed before the Armed Forces Tribunal, the Colonel’s widow said he was in fit at the time of joining and had excelled in basic as well as commando training, where he was awarded the Dagger. He served extensively in field areas all throughout his service and was decorated with the Shaurya Chakra for his daring action in Kashmir during counter-insurgency operations.

“After detection of the deadly disease, he volunteered to get his right hand amputated to limit the spread of the disease further, while continuing to serve with his elite unit. Despite being diagnosed with cancer, he remained steadfast in fulfilling his duties, refusing to let his disability stop him from doing what he loved,” the petitioner avers.

However, despite the husband of the petitioner incurring the disability in service and his resultant death thereof, the petitioner was not granted special family pension. In fact, the petitioner has been granted only ordinary family pension, the petition states.

“A perusal of the Guide to Medical Officers will show that on the basis of medical research, it has been clearly documented that contrary to what was believed in the past, all cancers are affected by military service and service-related diet, exercise, etc. and that stress and strain of military service have direct linkage with cancer,” the petitioner contended.

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