The Delhi High Court has ruled this in a case involving a former Army Signal Corps employee who was boarded out in December last year after being placed in the low medical category following his medical examination. He was found to be suffering from schizophrenia and his disability was assessed at 70 per cent.

Naik Tek Chand was denied disability pension on the grounds that his disability was not attributable to his service, which resulted in the court case. According to documents placed before the court, Tek Chand was medically examined and found fit when he joined the service way back in July, 1963. Over 34 years later, he was found unfit to continue due to his mental disability.

Upholding an earlier order by a single judge, a division bench of justices R.C. Lahoti and Mukul Mudgal dismissed the government plea against the same in June thisyear, saying no fault could be made out against the single judge order granting the pension.

In its order passed early this year the court had quoted a similar case involving Subhash Chander versus Union of India while upholding that ``the fact that disability is not mentioned in the records at the time of the person's entering into service was a proof that he had suffered the disease while in service and attributable to service''.

The Union government appealed against the case, challenging the order allowing disability pension to Tek Chand. Government counsel Rekha Palli cited another case in which the denial of disability pension was upheld by the Supreme Court.

The government appeal was, however, filed after the expiry of the 105-day period within which it was allowed to do so. The government counsel also filed an application under Section 5 of the Limitation Act seeking condonation of the delay in filing the appeal. The same was dismissed by the division bench ``on grounds of delay and also beingdevoid of any merit''. Palli, however, maintained that other cases of a similar nature would be decided on their individual merit.