9911796707
TMI Blog1962 (1) TMI 55X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... aggravated by war service and the degree of disablement was assessed at 50 per cent " incapable of improvement." He was granted provisional pension described as a "pending enquiry award" at Rs. 88-8-0 with effect from 8 November 1946. Subsequently, the pension was made a permanent disability pension also with effect from 8 November 1946, but the amount was reduced to Rs. 82-8-0. The petitioner was given some other employment till 1853 in the Delhi Ordnance Depot. By letter dated 23 March 1955, the petitioner was informed that the pension granted to him stood cancelled and it was explained subsequently that the board had reassessed disablement at 20 per cent which disentitled him to any pension. Morever it was stated that the disability was ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... . Mr. Jindra Lal on behalf of the respondent has contended that there is no statutory right to receive a pension and the question whether it constitutes property or no, becomes an irrelevant matter. My attention has been invited to annexure R. 1, which reproduces a copy of the Army Instruction No. 388/60 wherewith Rule 374 of the Pension Regulations for the Army in India was revised. Under this revised instruction, which is of the year 1950, a disability pension could be modified if on the result of a further medical examination of the individual the disability is reduced or has disappeared or has become capable of improvement. This instruction was to take effect from 28 July 1948. 3. It is contended by the petitioner that the pension gra ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... conferred on him by Part III of the Constitution. Now under Article 31(1) of Part III of the Constitution it is solemnly stated that "no person shall be deprived of his property save by authority of law." Once it is assumed that the petitioner had a right of property to be protected, there could be no escape from the conclusion that he has been deprived of it in the most arbitrary manner. 5. A plea taken up on behalf of the respondent that the petition ought to be dismissed on ground of delay cannot be sustained on account of the recent decision of the Supreme Court in Basheshar Nath v. Commissioner of income-tax, Delhi and Rajasthan . It was held by their lordships that no citizen can give up or waive a breach of the fundamental right a ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... accordance with British jurisprudence no member of the executive can interfere with the liberty or property of a British subject except on the condition that he can support the legality of his action before a Court of justice. And it is the tradition of British justice chat Judges should not shrink from deciding such issues in the face of the executive. These observations apply with full force to the state of affairs which have been discussed in this case. The petitioner's right of life pension has not merely been curtailed but abolished altogether by the flat of the executive Government for which there is no prima facie justification and of which the petitioner was not even given a notice of. The action of the executive cannot be defende ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X
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