New Delhi: The Armed Forces Tribunal (AFT) has ruled in favour of the family of an Indian Air Force fighter pilot who died after a cardiac arrest in 2023, holding that the condition was connected to the stress and strain arising from his military duties. The ruling means his wife, who is also a retired Air Force officer, will be entitled to the higher pensionary benefits that had earlier been denied to her.
The case centred on the officer’s workload before his death. His wife told the tribunal that he was routinely spending more than 12 hours a day on duty while taking on additional responsibilities because of a shortage of manpower.
According to the reports, the extended working hours affected his daily routine, including his meals and sleep, while leaving him with little opportunity to exercise. He was spending additional time both at his workplace and on ground to complete the responsibilities assigned to him.
The officer had joined the Indian Air Force as a fighter pilot in December 1996. He suffered a cardiac arrest at his residence in June 2023 and died around an hour later.
The official inquiry into his death did not establish a service connection. A court of inquiry concluded that the cardiac arrest was neither related to military service nor affected by it.
That finding had consequences for his wife’s pension. Instead of a special family pension, she was sanctioned an ordinary family pension and subsequently challenged the decision before the AFT.
The tribunal’s bench of justice, Suresh Kumar Gupta and lieutenant general anil puri considered the officer’s additional workload and the circumstances in which he had been performing his duties. The bench concluded that the prolonged stress associated with those responsibilities could be connected with the cardiac arrest and held that the death was connected to military service, the Tribune reported.
“In view of the fact that the deceased husband of the applicant was performing additional duty, we are of the view that cardiac arrest is the cause of stress and strain of military service,” the tribunal said.
The case also records what happened after the officer became unwell at home. He complained of discomfort at around 11.20am and lost consciousness roughly five minutes later.
His family sought help from the station medicare centre, which was located close to the residence. When immediate assistance did not arrive, his daughter went to the centre to collect Sorbitrate tablets. An ambulance reached the residence at around 11.44am, but it did not have the necessary equipment. Another ambulance arrived shortly afterwards, but it too lacked an oxygen mask and medicines. The officer was then taken to a hospital, where doctors confirmed his death.
The Punjab and Haryana high court, in an earlier case, had recognized that conditions leading to a heart attack can develop gradually and that the stress and strain associated with military service, including the nature of a person’s duties and working conditions, may be relevant factors.
It had also held that the medical condition of a person at the time of joining service is relevant. Where an individual enters service medically fit and later develops a disease that results in death, the circumstances of service can be examined while deciding whether the condition is connected with military service.
The AFT applied this reasoning along with Rule 15 of the Entitlement Rules and overturned the earlier position on service connection. The family was consequently held entitled to the higher pensionary benefits arising from the finding that the officer’s death was attributable to military service.