IAF can’t deny pension by terming hypertension a lifestyle disorder: HC

The Indian Air Force (IAF) cannot deny disability pension to its former employee merely by terming his hypertension condition to be a lifestyle disorder, held the Delhi High Court recently.

The Division Bench of Justice V Kameswar Rao and Justice Manmeet Pritam Singh Arora noted that lifestyles vary from individual to individual.

Therefore, a person suffering from hypertension cannot be shut out from disability pension merely by making assumptions about his lifestyle instead of having it properly evaluated by a medical board, which must given reasons for its conclusions, the Court said.

“It must be noted that lifestyle varies from individual to individual. Hence, a mere statement that the disease of a lifestyle disorder cannot be a sufficient reason to deny the grant of Disability Pension unless the Medical Board has duly examined and recorded the particulars relevant to the individual concerned,” the Court’s January 19 ruling stated.

The Court made the observation while upholding an Armed Forces Tribunal’s (AFT) decision to order the grant of disability pension to a retired IAF personnel (respondent) who suffered from hypertension. The respondent had served in the IAF for over thirty-seven years between 1981 to 2019. In 2018, a Release Medical Board found that he had hypertension.