The Supreme Court on Tuesday favoured the creation of a structured scheme to provide facilities and amenities for military cadets who were medically discharged during training, so that they can be rehabilitated both medically and otherwise.
A bench of Justices B.V. Nagarathna and R. Mahadevan made the observations while hearing a suo motu case on the difficulties faced by cadets who suffered disabilities during training and were subsequently discharged from military institutions.
Senior advocate Rekha Palli, appointed as amicus curiae, submitted written suggestions outlining a possible framework for medical assistance, financial support, educational and resettlement options, and insurance coverage for out-boarded cadets.
Additional Solicitor General Aishwarya Bhati, appearing for the Centre, informed the bench that the suggestions could be placed before experts at the service headquarters for examination, following which recommendations could be sent to the Ministry of Defence. The ministries of defence and finance would then consider them jointly.
“In these circumstances, we request the ASG to place a copy of this written submission and communicate about the same to the concerned authorities in the service headquarters who could accordingly carry out the aforesaid exercise at the earliest and in the most befitting manner…,” the bench said.
The court was informed that around 699 cadets have been out-boarded so far.
The bench underlined the need to recognise the position of such cadets within the overall training structure, noting that they sustained injuries during training and, but for these injuries, would have been commissioned as officers.
The court also clarified that these cadets cannot be treated as ex-servicemen since they were not formally inducted into the armed forces.
“See, they have not been formally inducted into the defence forces. They are in between. If they are not yet commissioned, they can’t be treated as ex-servicemen,” the bench observed. It added that a dedicated programme could be devised for their welfare without equating them with ex-servicemen.
The amicus also referred to an earlier expert committee report by the Defence Ministry on service and pension matters, minimising litigation, and grievance redressal. She submitted that it was unclear what follow-up action had been taken on that report.
The Centre had earlier informed the court that, starting August 29, all out-boarded cadets had been brought under the Ex-Servicemen Contributory Health Scheme (ECHS), with the one-time subscription fee waived.
On monetary benefits, the court had noted the existing ex-gratia amount (effective from 2017) and suggested that it be revisited in light of inflation and rising costs. It had also remarked that the current insurance cover might be inadequate and called for steps to enhance it.
The Supreme Court initiated suo motu proceedings on August 12 after taking cognisance of a media report highlighting the plight of out-boarded cadets. The report revealed that since 1985, around 500 cadets from premier military institutions like the National Defence Academy (NDA) and Indian Military Academy (IMA) had been discharged due to training injuries and were struggling with medical expenses.
Because they were never commissioned, they are not entitled to ex-servicemen status and, consequently, were not eligible for free treatment under ECHS. They currently receive an ex-gratia payment of up to ₹40,000 per month, depending on the extent of disability, an amount described as insufficient to cover basic medical needs.
For instance, at NDA alone, around 20 cadets were medically discharged between 2021 and July 2025.
The court has asked the authorities to undertake the necessary exercise to formulate a scheme for the benefit of such cadets and posted the matter for further hearing on November 18.
