Supreme Court Urges Union to Recognize and Support Military Cadets Injured During Training

On Tuesday (October 07, 2025), the Supreme Court (SC) of India urged the Union Government to give notice for a formal scheme to rehabilitate military cadets who are out-boarded, after suffering disabilities during training, claiming medical and financial resettlement. The bench observed, “In this regard we would also observe that these out-boarded officers would have entered into their post as Commissioned officers at the entry level but as of now they have not acquired or given any status or recognition in regard to the injury sustained during training and consequently there has been lack of appropriate facilities and amenities that are being provided to such out-boarded cadets.” 

The two-judge bench of the SC, containing Justice BV Nagarathna and Justice R Mahadevan, made their observations during the resumed hearing of a suo moto case about the challenges faced by cadets who became disabled while undergoing military training. The bench stated that the status and the position of the out-boarded candidates must be recognized “in the entire scheme of training of officers.” In this case, Senior Advocate Rekha Palli, amicus curiae in this case, gave written submissions indicating medical assistance, financial support, and insurance coverage for the out-boarded officer cadets. Additional Solicitor General Aishwary Bhati suggested that these ideologies should be considered by the experts at the service headquarters and recommendations made to the Defence Ministry. 

While hearing the matter, the bench noted that the soldier recruits and officer cadets, who were discharged due to injury during training, did not receive the same monetary and other facilities. The SC opined, “There is a need for the system to first of all recognise and thereafter to come up with a scheme for the benefit of such cadets both monetary as well as otherwise including health facilities etc…In the circumstances we request the learned ASG to place the copy of the written submissions and communicate the same to the concerned authorities in the service headquarters for them to accordingly carry out the afore stated exercise at the earliest and in the most befitting manner by first of all recognizing the status and position of the out-boarded cadets in the entire scheme of training of the officers who but for the unfortunate injury sustained by them during training would have become commissioned officers in the respective services.”

Furthermore, the top court said, “The number of these boarded out cadets (BOC) is absolutely miniscule.” The bench added, “Their numbers are few and there is a lot of heartburn that what they get is very less compared to recruits…Hence, it is expected that a scheme of facilities and amenities would be provided so these out-boarded cadets could be rehabilitated both medically as well as otherwise.” Lastly, the bench requested the Additional Solicitor General to share the written submissions by amicus curiae with the concerned authorities. The two-judge bench further said that the matter will be heard next on November 18, 2025. It directed the ASG to ensure that the case is addressed as early as possible.