In Brief
SGT Chaman Lal, an Indian Air Force airman, was placed in low medical category A4G4(P) after allegedly negligent surgery in 2002. He remained a sergeant for 11 years but sought promotion to Junior Warrant Officer (JWO), a select rank, citing empanelment, experience, and comparable cases of officers with higher disability percentages who were promoted. The Supreme Court dismissed his appeal, holding that medical categorisation—not disability percentage—governs promotion eligibility. A4G4(P) personnel are statutorily ineligible for select promotion. Empanelment creates no vested right; it only permits consideration. Section 47 of the Disabilities Act does not apply to Armed Forces personnel. Vast experience and job performance cannot override statutory medical fitness requirements for select promotion.
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