3 min readNew DelhiMar 11, 2026 08:29 AM IST
The Supreme Court on Tuesday pulled up the Centre for delaying a decision on providing benefits to officer cadets boarded out from the military on account of disability suffered during training and warned that it will direct personal appearance of the Secretaries of Defence and Finance Ministries.
A bench of Justices B V Nagarathna and Ujjal Bhuyan noted that it had given the Centre six weeks’ time on January 20. “However there has been no progress in the matter… We fail to understand why despite this court taking up the issue suo motu there has been no response from the Defence Ministry as well as the Finance Ministry,” the court said.
It gave the ministries two weeks more to arrive at a decision, failing which it said the officials would be summoned to the court. The court will now hear the matter on March 24.
“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 bench said.
The Supreme Court had taken up the matter suo motu based on reports published in The Indian Express on the plight of officer cadets discharged from top military institutes due to disabilities suffered during training and sought the response of the armed forces and the Centre.
Subsequently, the court appointed Senior Advocate Rekha Palli to assist it in the matter as amicus curiae. She came up with a series of recommendations, including coverage under Ex-Servicemen Contributory Health Scheme (ECHS) for all “invalidated” past and future officer cadets and eligible dependents; hike in ex gratia benefits equivalent to rank of Lieutenant/Flying Officer; implementation of previous recommendations for disability pension; one-time compensation for immediate relief; periodic medical reassessment for resettlement, reservation in higher education and better insurance.
On October 7, 2025, the SC had directed that these suggestions be placed before the Army, Navy and Air Force headquarters for them to frame a scheme for the rehabilitation of these cadets.
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During the hearing on December 16, Additional Solicitor General Aishwarya Bhatti appearing for the Centre informed the court that the three service chiefs were positive about the recommendations and the response of the two ministries was awaited.
With the ASG repeating the stand on Tuesday, the bench was furious and said, “We will have to summon the secretaries here now.”
Bhatti urged the court to give some more time before summoning, failing which they could be asked to appear.
Justice Nagarathna said the monetary allocation would be required. “Having regard to the fact that the Finance Act 2026 being under consideration, this is the most appropriate period for taking note of the expenditure required for meeting the monetary requirements of the out boarded cadets,” the bench said.
