Forty-five years after a soldier was discharged from the Army on medical grounds after just over a year of service, the Armed Forces Tribunal (AFT) has held that an individual invalided out of service is entitled to disability benefits for life, even if the extent of the disability decreases at a later stage.The applicant, Madan Lal, was invalided out of service in October 1981 after serving for just one year and 20 days due to a fracture sustained in the course of duty.The extent of his disability was assessed at 20 per cent for two years. As the disability was attributable to military service, he was granted a disability pension for two years.He continued to receive the disability pension until 1996, following successive Resurvey Medical Boards (RSMBs) assessing the extent of his disability at 20 per cent.The RSMB conducted in June 1996 also assessed his disability at 20 per cent for 10 years. However, the Controller of Defence Accounts (Pensions) intervened and reduced the assessed extent of disability to 1–5 per cent for 10 years.Consequently, payment of the disability element was discontinued, as disability below 20 per cent does not qualify for a disability pension.He approached the AFT against the denial of benefits. In September 2021, the Tribunal directed the authorities to conduct a fresh RSMB. The board was convened in April 2022 and assessed the extent of his disability at 1–5 per cent for life, including the intervening period. However, the payment of the disability element continued to be denied.The soldier again challenged the decision before the AFT, contending that the CDA’s intervention in the findings of the June 1996 RSMB was unjustified. He argued that, since he had been invalided out of service, he was entitled to the continued grant of the disability element even if the extent of his disability fell below 20 per cent, as he could not have been re-enrolled in service.“There is no gainsaying that after having been invalided in the year 1981, the applicant could not have been re-enrolled in the year 2022 merely because the extent of his disability had fallen below 20 percent,” the Tribunal’s Bench, comprising Justice Sudhir Mittal and Lt Gen Ranbir Singh, said.“In all fairness, a person invalided from service soon after enrolment would be entitled to payment of disability element for life even if the extent of disability fell below 20 percent on a later date,” the Bench ruled in its order dated October 8.The Bench further held that the CDA’s intervention in 1996 was unjustified in view of the Supreme Court’s judgment dated January 15, 1993, in Ex Sapper Mohinder Singh v. Union of India.It directed that the applicant be granted the disability element with effect from the day following the date on which its payment was discontinued, along with the benefit of rounding off the disability percentage.