Supreme Court asks Centre to provide insurance cover for cadets disabled during training

The Supreme Court directed the Centre to explore insurance cover, enhanced compensation and rehabilitation schemes for military cadets disabled during training. Taking suo motu cognisance, the court said injuries should not deter “braveheart cadets” and called the move an act of social justice

New Delhi: The Supreme Court on Monday said it wants defence forces to have “braveheart cadets” who should not be deterred by injuries or disabilities suffered during training and directed the Centre to explore the possibility of providing them with insurance covers for such exigencies.

A bench of Justices B V Nagarathna and R Mahadevan, sought response of the Centre and defence forces in a suo motu case on difficulties faced by cadets, who were medically discharged from military institutes on account of disabilities suffered during training programmes.

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“We want these braveheart cadets to be in the forces. We don’t want injuries or disability to be any kind of deterrent to these cadets, who undergo training after clearing various competitive examinations,” the bench observed.

The Centre, the top court said, should explore the possibility of granting an insurance cover like group insurance to the cadets undergoing rigorous training in different military institutes to deal with any exigency of death or disabilities.

“If you grant them insurance cover, there will be no financial burden on the government but on the insurer. Every trainee cadet should be insured because the risk is very high. Brave people should come into the forces, if they are left high and dry, they will be disheartened,” the bench said.

It also asked Additional Solicitor General Aishwarya Bhati, appearing for the Centre, to seek instruction on enhancing the current lumpsum amount, which stands at Rs 40,000 for cadets disabled during the training programme, to meet their medical needs.

The top court was informed that a file relating to granting them Ex-Servicemen Contributory Health Scheme (ECHS) cover has been cleared by the ministry but not implemented. The top court also asked the Centre to explore a scheme for rehabilitation of the disabled candidates into desk jobs or any other work related to defence services, after their treatment was over.

“Don’t treat this case as adversarial. There can be some scheme under which they can be trained after treatment of their disability or injuries. These injuries or disabilities are accidental. You can bring them back into the forces by reassessing them and training them for some other work in the defence forces,” the bench told Bhati.

Justice Nagarathna said even if they did not receive the same benefits as provided to the ex-servicepersons, they could still get some benefits under the scheme.

“Insurance cover, enhanced ex-gratia amount and benefits under the rehabilitation scheme can be given to them. Explore these possibilities and apprise us after seeking instructions from competent authorities,” the bench said, calling it an act of social justice.

The matter was then posted for September 4. The bench was informed several high courts were seized with the issues of such cadets. Without passing any order, the bench decided to take a call about the issues in the suo motu case later. The bench asked Bhati to file a response by September 4 and allowed the counsel appearing for the cadets before the high courts to submit their suggestions to her.

On August 12, the top court took suo motu cognisance of a media report, which flagged the issue of these cadets. They were stated to be once a part of training at the nation’s top military institutes such as the National Defence Academy (NDA) and Indian Military Academy (IMA).

According to the media report, there are around 500 officer cadets who were medically discharged from these military institutes since 1985, due to varying degrees of disability incurred during training, and are now staring at mounting medical bills with an ex-gratia monthly payment that’s far short of what they need.

In NDA alone, it was reported, there were around 20 such cadets, who were medically discharged in just five years, between 2021 and July 2025. The report further highlighted the plight of these cadets because according to the rules, they were not entitled to the status of ex-servicemen (ESM), which would have made them eligible under the ECHS for free treatment at military facilities and empanelled hospitals, since their disabilities took place during training before they were commissioned as officers.

It said unlike soldiers in this category, entitled to ESM status, all that these officer cadets got was an ex-gratia payment of up to Rs 40,000 per month depending on extent of disability — an amount that falls far short of basic needs.