High Court Upholds Special Pension for Army Soldier's Cancer Case

The Punjab and Haryana High Court has dismissed the Centre's appeal against awarding a special family pension to the family of an Army soldier who passed away from cancer. The court determined that prolonged stress and strain associated with military service could have contributed to the development of the disease.

Rules cited by the court highlighted that except for cancer caused by smoking, other types are considered attributable to military service. A division bench concluded that the Centre's challenge to the 2019 Armed Forces Tribunal's decision was unsubstantiated and upheld the pension for Kumari Salochna Verma.

Verma's son, who was medically fit upon Army enrolment, succumbed to retroperitoneal sarcoma. The court cited precedent that disease contracted post-enrolment might be linked to service stress. The lack of clear evidence negating this connection led to the pension being seen as justified.

(With inputs from agencies.)