Army tribunal restores Honorary Lieutenant rank to subedar after post was withdrawn over hypertension condition | Chandigarh News
The rank of Honorary Lieutenant, awarded to a subedar on the occasion of Independence Day on August 15, 2022, but later withdrawn, was restored by the Lucknow bench of the Armed Forces Tribunal (AFT) recently.
The rank was withdrawn after it came to be known that his medical fitness category was downgraded while he was deployed at a super high altitude area in the Galwan valley of Eastern Ladakh. The subedar was diagnosed with ‘Primary Hypertension’.
The AFT bench has directed the Army to grant the honorary rank of Lieutenant to Subedar Ram Chandra Prasad of the Army Medical Corps (AMC). It also asked the Army to consider Prasad for grant of the honorary rank of Captain, as per the existing policy with all consequential benefits.
“The applicant’s Honorary Commission rank of Lieutenant granted on 15.08.2022 should not have been kept in abeyance, instead he should have been promoted to the rank of Honorary Lieutenant with effect from 25.11.2022 (date of upgradation of his medical category to acceptable medical category for grant of Hony Commission),” noted the AFT bench.
The deployment and what led to ‘Primary Hypertension’
The Indian Army had deployed several troops in Eastern Ladakh after the face off with Chinese troops in Galwan in June 2020. Subedar Prasad was posted with an AMC unit in the area.
The counsel for the subedar submitted that in June 2021, the applicant was posted to a super high altitude area, Leh (Jammu and Kashmir) where he stayed for about four months and thereafter in September 2021, he was transferred to Galwan valley, another Super High Altitude Area. Here, due to climatic conditions, the applicant suffered from a disease called ‘Primary Hypertension’.
Downgrading the subedar’s medical fitness category
After examination and treatment, the applicant was placed in medical category P-2 (Temp) from June 11, 2022 and thereafter, upon review, in medical category P-2(P) on November 25. The counsel argued that the disability suffered by the applicant was due to his posting in the super high altitude area and, therefore, it is attributable to military service.
He further submitted that due to the applicant’s excellent record of service, he was granted an honorary rank of Lieutenant on the occasion of Independence Day, 2022, and the same was published in a Gazette Notification. However, the Army headquarters in a message dated August 14, 2022 had directed that Junior Commissioned Officers, granted Honorary Commission on Republic and Independence Day, who are in low medical category SHAPE 3 (T-24), or whose discipline proceedings are under progress, the Honorary Commission in such cases will be held in abeyance.
Accordingly, the Army Medical Record Office verified the data related to the medical category of the applicant and found that he was in low medical category 1H1A1P3(T-24) E1 with effect from June 11, 2022 for Essential Primary Hypertension.
The counsel told the AFT that despite grant of the rank, he was not promoted due to a low medical category. The applicant approached all authorities for his promotion but he was not promoted, the counsel added.
“Due to said policy Honorary Commission granted to him on the occasion of Independence Day 2022 was held in abeyance. When the applicant’s medical category was upgraded, his Recommendation Form and Data Sheet was again sent to the authorities as a last chance for grant of Honorary Commission but the applicant could not make it being low in merit,” the AFT was told by the counsel of the Subedar.
AFT observation
The AFT bench found that the Army headquarters’ policy states that “in case the JCO remains in unacceptable medical category upto six months from the occasion or till his retirement (whichever is earlier), then the Honorary Commission will be withdrawn”. However, in the present case, the category was upgraded before six months and well before the retirement and therefore he was eligible to be promoted to Honorary Lieutenant.
The subedar was enrolled in the Army on February 28, 1993 and was released from service on February 28, 2023 on completion of his terms of engagement in the rank of Subedar.
