Armed Force Tribunal holds IAF officer’s death while saving kids ‘attributable to military service’
Accepting the petition filed by Anuradha Bhattacharya, wife of late Wing Commander Durlabh Bhattacharya, AFT’s Chandigarh bench ruled that the officer’s death was attributable to military service.
“The decision of the Court of Inquiry that the death was ‘not attributable to military service’ has been set aside,” the bench, comprising Justice Umesh Chandra Sharma and Air Marshal Manavendra Singh, said in its verdict dated January 19. he said.
Durlabh Bhattacharya, who was commissioned in the IAF in December 2006, drowned at the Emerald Lake in Tamil Nadu on February 7, 2021, while trying to save children in distress during a family trip.
He rescued a child and dived again to look for his daughter but drowned.
A police report stated that the death was accidental. A later Court of Inquiry found that this was “not attributable to military service”, based on the widow being denied a special family pension and only being granted an ordinary family pension.
In September 2023, the IAF reiterated the refusal to grant the special family pension, which is higher than the ordinary family pension. The Court observed that the Court of Inquiry’s conclusion that “none of them could be attributed to military service” was not based on a narrow interpretation of the expression “on duty”.
In its decision dated January 19 and published on Thursday, the board said the duty cannot be interpreted narrowly and limited to strict working hours, especially in emergency-related services that require uniformed, disciplined or constant preparedness.
The court also noted that even in public services, an employee may be considered on duty if the action performed is incidental to service obligations or is done for the purpose of promoting public safety.
It was observed that the defendants’ contention that the deceased was currently “off duty” was unsustainable.
He added that presence at a picnic, even if of an informal nature, does not impair an individual’s job status, especially when employees are subject to recall or liability. The determining factor is the nature of the action, not the place or timing.
In her plea while challenging the denial of special family pension, Anuradha Bhattacharya argued that her husband died in the course of a bona fide act reflecting the spirit of duty and sacrifice inherent in military service.
The defense stated that the death occurred while the officer was on duty and not on leave.
He maintained that the officer remained under service discipline at all times; The act of rescuing civilians was in accordance with the spirit and obligations of military service and therefore the death should be considered attributable to military service.
The defendant authorities claimed that although the deceased was at the scene, he was not on official duty and therefore his wife was not entitled to a special family pension.
It was claimed that death due to accidental drowning does not contain a provision that entitles the spouse to a special family pension.
