Overview

• The court directed ASG Aishwarya Bhati to circulate amicus Rekha Palli’s written proposals to service headquarters for expert recommendations to the Defence and Finance ministries.
• The bench flagged grave discrimination between recruits and officer cadets injured during training and indicated a tailored scheme could address their needs without granting ex-servicemen parity.
• The judges recorded about 699 boarded-out cadets and roughly 40 new cases each year, calling the cohort minuscule for fiscal planning.
• ECHS medical coverage has already been extended to these cadets from August 29 with the one-time subscription fee waived, though families are not covered according to submissions.
• Existing support is largely limited to ex-gratia payments that trail recruit benefits, and the court noted calls, including a 2015 MoD panel’s advice, to shift to disability pensions and strengthen insurance, reassessment and resettlement.