O.A. No. 95 of 2016. Case: Saju Joseph Vs Union of India and Ors. Armed Forces Tribunal
| Case Number | O.A. No. 95 of 2016 |
| Counsel | For Appellant: V.K. Sathyanathan, Adv. and For Respondents: S. Prasanth, Central Government Counsel |
| Judges | S.S. Satheesachandran, Member (J) and M.P. Muralidharan, Vice Admiral, AVSM and BAR, NM and Member (A) |
| Issue | Reserve And Auxiliary Air Forces Act 1952 - Sections 2(a), 2(b), 3, 4, 5, 5(1), 5(1)(a) |
| Judgement Date | January 24, 2017 |
| Court | Armed Forces Tribunal |
Order:
M.P. Muralidharan, Vice Admiral, AVSM and BAR, NM and Member (A), (Regional Bench, Kochi)
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The Original Application has been filed by Ex. Corporal Saju Joseph, No. 722724N, of Indian Air Force, seeking reservist pension.
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The applicant was enrolled in the Air Force on 29 Aug 1991 for 20 years regular service with 02 years of reserve liability. He was discharged from service on 30 Sep 2004, at his own request before fulfilling the conditions of enrolment. At the time of discharge he had completed regular service of 13 years and 31 days. He was on the reserve liability for 02 years from 01 Oct 2004 to 30 Sep 2006.
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Shri VK Sathyanathan, the learned counsel for the applicant, submitted that during the course of the applicant's service in the Air Force, his father became seriously ill, with no one to look after him or his mother. There were also other domestic problems which required the applicant' presence at home, Therefore he sought discharge from service on extreme compassionate grounds, which was accepted and the applicant was discharged on 30 Sep 2004 after 13 years and one month of unblemished regular service. The applicant at the time of his discharge was also intimated that he was bound to serve in regular Air Force reserve for 02 years as per agreement executed at the time of his enrolment. The learned counsel further submitted that accordingly the applicant was transferred to reserve for 02 years (Annexure-A1). Since no emergency arose during the applicant's reserve service, he was not called up for service. On completion of the reserve service period, the applicant had a total qualifying service of 15 years and one month.
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The learned counsel further submitted that the applicant was initially not aware of the provisions of Pension Regulations. However, on becoming aware of the same, the applicant learnt that he was entitled to reservist pension on discharge from reserve, as he had completed 15 years of combined regular and reserve service. He, therefore, made an appeal to Chief of the Air Staff (Respondent No. 2) requesting for reservist pension (Annexure-A2). His request was rejected by the 3rd respondent (Directorate of Air Veterans) stating that he was not transferred to Regular Air Force Reserve (Annexure-A3).
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Learned counsel further submitted that the discharge certificate of the applicant at Annexure-A1, clearly stipulates that the applicant was in reserve for 02 years. The applicant whose term of engagement was for 20 years regular and 02 years reserve, had completed combined service of 15 years and 01 month. He was hence eligible for reservist...
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