SC warns officials on benefits to disabled cadets

The Supreme Court on Tuesday warned that it could summon the defence and the finance secretaries if their concerned ministries fail to take a decision on extending monetary benefits to military cadets who became unfit due to disability suffered during their training period.

A bench of Justices BV Nagarathna and Ujjal Bhuyan was hearing a suo moto case related to the difficulties faced by cadets who were boarded out due to injury or disablement during training.

“Having regard to the fact that sufficient time has already been granted to the concerned ministries by us, we are constrained to observe that in case no progress is made in the matter, we would be constrained to direct the presence of the defence secretary and the finance secretary before this court,” the court said.

The bench said that six weeks were granted by the court to the authorities to decide on the issue, but no response was given by the defence or the finance ministry.

Additional Solicitor General Aishwarya Bhati urged the bench to grant some more time to the ministries for taking a decision on the issue, and submitted that she had tried her best to resolve the matter.

She informed the court that all three chiefs of the Army, Navy and Air Force had made recommendations on measures to improve the condition of the cadets, but the concerned ministries have not taken any decision in the matter.

Justice Nagarathna said the issue needs coordination between both the defence ministry and the finance ministry, and suggested that a joint meeting could help resolve the matter.

“The monetary allocation required should have been part of the Budget. The Finance Act has not yet been passed, so there is time,” she said.

The court noted that the Finance Act, 2026, is under consideration and makes this the best time to analyse the funds required to meet the monetary needs of these cadets.

“Having regard to the fact that the Finance Act 2026 is under consideration, this is the most appropriate period for taking note of the expenditure required for meeting the monetary requirements of the outboarded cadets,” the court said, and listed the matter for further hearing on March 24.

On August 18 last year, the top court had said that it wants defence forces to have “braveheart cadets” who should not be deterred by injuries or disabilities suffered during training, and directed the Centre to explore the possibility of providing them with insurance covers for such exigencies.

It had sought the response of the Centre and the defence forces in a suo motu case on difficulties faced by cadets, who were medically discharged from military institutes on account of disabilities suffered during training programmes.

The Centre, the top court said, should explore the possibility of granting an insurance cover like group insurance to the cadets undergoing rigorous training in different military institutes to deal with any exigency of death or disabilities.

It also asked Bhati to seek instruction on enhancing the current lumpsum amount, which stands at Rs 40,000 for cadets disabled during the training programme, to meet their medical needs.

The top court was informed that a file relating to granting them Ex-Servicemen Contributory Health Scheme (ECHS) cover had been cleared by the ministry, but not implemented.

The top court also asked the Centre to explore a scheme for the rehabilitation of the disabled candidates into desk jobs or any other work related to defence services, after their treatment was over.

On August 12 last year, the top court had taken suo motu cognisance of a media report, which flagged the issue of these cadets.

They were stated to be once a part of training at the nation’s top military institutes, such as the National Defence Academy (NDA) and the Indian Military Academy (IMA).

According to a report, there were around 500 officer cadets who were medically discharged from these military institutes since 1985, due to varying degrees of disability incurred during training, and are now staring at mounting medical bills with an ex-gratia monthly payment that’s far short of what they need.