No proof of personal problems, soldier's suicide due to military service, says Armed Forces Tribunal

Time of India

19-07-2025

Chandigarh: The Armed Forces Tribunal (AFT) has attributed a soldier's suicide to military service and granted special family pension to his widow, noting that there was no evidence of personal problems in his life.
"Absence of call data records of the mobile of the deceased has been a handicap even with the court of inquiry (COI). Had there been forensic evidence, the picture would have become clearer. However, with no evidence of personal problems in the life of deceased and his taking own life on the day of 'Vijay Divas', predominately shows linkage of service factors with suicide," the tribunal has held.
The soldier, a Naik with Maratha Light Infantry, had served in Army for 13 years before he allegedly shot himself with a service rifle on 'Vijay Divas' on Dec 16, 2018, while being posted at a training unit in Assam.
He wrote 'My Vijay Divas' on his forearm and palm before dying by suicide.
His wife filed an appeal for family pension with AFT, saying she was struggling to bring up their two children since her husband's death. The ordinary family pension amounting of Rs 19,475 per month wasn't enough, she said in her petition, adding that this amount would be further reduced to Rs.11,685 per month after Dec 17, 2028.
She pleaded that her husband was neither unwell nor did he have any suicidal tendency.
Shed argued that she is entitled to special family pension because her husband died while on duty and the COI and General Officer Commanding (GOC) had declared his death attributable to military service.
A division bench comprising Justice Shailendra Shukla, judicial member, and Vice-Admiral Atul Kumar Jain, administrative member, of the AFT Mumbai bench examined all the records and witnesses, and observed that what is of utmost importance is that the COI itself found the death attributable to military service and the Station Commander and GOC concurred.
The tribunal further held that the COI's opinion shows that conditions for awarding special family pension had been fulfilled, meaning thereby that it was established that service factors were responsible for the death.
"The onus now shifted on military authorities to prove otherwise and it was their incumbent duty to prove that the writing on the forearm and palm of the deceased was not in his own handwriting which they have not been able to do…In absence of definite opinion, benefit of doubt has to be accorded in favour of the applicant and therefore we are inclined to align with the opinion of COI, Commander and GOC that suicide was attributable to military service.
The onus under these conditions was upon military authorities to prove contrary, which has not been discharged. Thus, the applicant is found to be entitled to Special Family pension," the tribunal said in its recent judgment.
The tribunal, however, refused to grant an ex gratia amount to the widow.