RIYADH, 26 November — The Court of Grievances recently ordered the pensions department to grant a regular pension to a military officer who had been denied one because he was dismissed from service.
The court pointed out that, although the officer with over five years’ service was dismissed because of his inability to fulfill his duties, the reason for the termination was later changed to "physically unfit on medical grounds to continue in active military service".
According to pension regulations, termination of an employee because of physical disability does not disqualify him from eligibility for a full pension.
In the light of the court’s order the pension department will have to revoke its earlier decision to pay him a lump sum grant instead of regular pension benefits.
The officer, who was dismissed from service after developing symptoms of a serious mental disorder, was examined by a medical board, which found him unfit for field duty but capable of undertaking clerical work.
Later a government order was issued dismissing him from the service. However, another government order was subsequently issued amending the earlier order and stating that his services were terminated because he had been medically unfit.
The officer sought the intervention of the Court of Grievances when his request to grant him a regular pension on the basis of the second government order was rejected by the pension department.
The department argued that the applicant’s service came to an end with his dismissal and his service claims were settled with the payment of a lump sum of SR33,712.
The department also stated before the court that the officer made the request to reconsider his pension status eight years after his claims were settled and the department feared that revising its first decision on the basis of such a late amendment would open the door for more complications — if no time limit were fixed by the authorities to issue such revised orders.
However, the officer’s lawyer pointed out the apparent contradiction in the department’s willingness to accept the first government order but ignore the second.
"An agency able to issue an order has the right to withdraw and amend the same order," the lawyer stated.
He attributed the delay in his request for regular pension to the officer’s prolonged mental illness, which made it impossible for him to properly comprehend the full implications of the situation he found himself in. As soon as he recovered, he requested the concerned authorities to take all necessary steps to make him eligible for a pension.
