The Supreme Court on Tuesday mocked the Union government’s delay in taking action on recommendations aimed at improving the condition of cadets who have been isolated due to a disability they developed during training, and said it would be restricted to summoning the defense and finance ministers personally if a final decision is not taken within two weeks.
The order came in a lawsuit initiated by the court based on a news report depicting the plight of these students who are either bedridden or lack financial resources for their treatment. The court noted that time was given to the Center on two occasions — December 2025 and again on January 20 this year — to take a decision on the recommendations made by the chiefs of the Army, Navy and Air Force.
“We do not understand that despite this court taking up the issue suo motu, there has been no response from the defense and finance ministries. For the purpose of considering the recommendations of the service chiefs, we granted six weeks’ notice on January 20 and still no progress has been made,” a bench of Justices B V Nagaratna and Ujjal Bhuiyan said.
Noting that the recommendations of the service chiefs also entail financial assistance, the court also observed: “In view of the fact that the Finance Bill 2026 is under consideration, this is the most appropriate time to meet the financial requirements of the cadets (BOC).”
Additional Solicitor General (ASG) Aishwarya Bhatti, who was representing the Centre, told the court that the two ministries – defense and finance – had not backed away from the recommendations made by the three service chiefs. When the Court recalled that too much time had passed and that it was inclined to recall the relevant secretaries, the Assistant Secretary-General requested a final opportunity to decide on the recommendations.
To give the Center a final chance to decide within two weeks, the court published the matter on March 24. She added: “If there is no progress on the matter, we will be forced to direct the presence of the Ministers of Defense and Finance before us.”
Senior advocate Rekha Bali, who is assisting the court as amicus curiae, noted that several recommendations issued by various subcommittees had met a similar fate in the past.
On August 18 last year, the Supreme Court took up a suo motu matter on the plight of student officers who are medically discharged while training at elite academies like NDA and IMA after suffering disabilities that occurred before commissioning, and are excluded from ex-servicemen status and benefits under the Ex-servicemen Contributory Health Scheme (ECHS) despite sustaining lifelong injuries.
Days later, the Union government on August 29 agreed to extend the scope of ECHS to include officer cadets whose training was canceled for medical reasons attributable to or aggravated by military training. The Center even exempted them from paying the mandatory one-time subscription fee $1.2 lakh to avail these benefits.
The amicus curiae made several recommendations requiring that BOCs be provided not only with medical assistance but with financial support, education, and insurance coverage. According to Bali, these students were given a bargain where they should be given the status of ‘ex-servicemen’.
The court had also urged the Center to consider their case sympathetically since the number of BOCs is “miniscule”. The Center had informed the court that every year nearly 40 students are taken out due to injury during training and their total number does not exceed 700.
Paley also pointed out that a recruit with a 20% handicap ends up getting the minimum of $18,000 per month while the eligible student gets higher pay when commissioned as an officer only $12,000 as a gift, which is a small amount compared to more than that $36,000 that a paramilitary officer obtains the rank of Group A. She added that even with ECHS, students can only get free treatment and not their families. Moreover, their education and resettlement are a major concern as their academic training goes to waste.
The center informed the court that these students receive it as a gift $9000 per month may extend to $16,000 for 100% disability, along with associated fees $6,750 per month.
In addition, the three wings of the Defense Forces have their own insurance plans which propose different payment schedules covering students undergoing training. It saves $1.25 crores for death $25 thousand for 100% disability which is relatively less depending on the extent of the disability $50,000 for an injury certified as less than 20%.
