Supreme Court takes up plea on why medically discharged NDA and IMA cadets are denied ex servicemen benefits for training related disabilities

In a case registered on 12 August 2025, the Supreme Court of India has taken suo motu cognisance of the plight of officer cadets who were medically discharged during training at elite academies like the NDA and IMA after suffering disabilities that occurred before commissioning, excluding them from ex servicemen status and benefits under the Ex Servicemen Contributory Health Scheme despite incurring lifelong injuries.

According ro media reports, since 1985, approximately 500 cadets have been discharged on medical grounds and are struggling with escalating medical bills even as the only support they receive is a monthly ex gratia payment of up to ₹40,000, an amount that falls far short of basic needs while average medical expenses alone often exceed ₹50,000 per month.

At the NDA alone, around 20 cadets were discharged on medical grounds between 2021 and July 2025. A media report brought attention to the fact that although Defence Minister Rajnath Singh has approved a proposal to increase compensation, that file remains stuck in bureaucratic limbo. Former service chiefs including General M M Naravane (retd) and Admiral Arun Prakash (retd) have urged that the government should absorb the cost of lifelong care, ensure robust health insurance, and treat compensation as an entitlement, not charity, and that training institutions must guarantee safety and fitness while also exploring whether cadets disabled during training should be granted ex servicemen status.

The suo motu petition titled In Re: Cadets Disabled in Military Training Struggle is expected to be heard on 18 August 2025 by a bench comprising Justices B V Nagarathna and R Mahadevan.

Case title: In Re: Cadets Disabled in Military Training Struggle

Judgment/hearing date: 18 August 2025

Bench: Justices B V Nagarathna and R Mahadevan