Supreme Court Takes Suo Motu Cognizance of Medically Discharged Cadets’ Plight; Hearing on August 19

The Supreme Court has suo motu noticed the prevailing situation of cadets who were removed from military training on account of disability. The cadets were medically discharged by military institutions when they were detected with disability during training. A bench consisting of Justice BV Nagarathna and Justice RMahadevan of the Supreme Court will on Monday hear the suomotu petition.

The issue of cadets was raised in a media report released on August 12. The report said that the cadets were once part of training in the country's top military institutions like the National Defense Academy (NDA) and the Indian Military Academy (IMA). Since 1985, about 500 officer cadets have been discharged from military institutions on medical grounds due to various types of disabilities during training.

The report said that in the NDA alone, there are about 20 such cadets who were discharged from medical service in just five years between 2021 and July 2025. Now the cadets are facing mounting medical bills. The cadets are being paid monthly ex-gratia by the army, but it is very little.

The media report said that according to the rules of the army, these cadets are not entitled to get the status of ex-servicemen (ESM). Therefore, they cannot be given the benefit of facilities like free treatment in military facilities and listed hospitals under the Ex-Servicemen Contributory Health Scheme (ECHS). Their disability occurred during training before getting commissioned as an officer.

The report said that unlike soldiers of this category, cadets now get ex-gratia payment of up to Rs 40,000 per month depending on the extent of disability. Whereas this amount is much less than the basic needs.