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Soldiers who leave their post to go to the lavatory are still defending their country, an Indian Army tribunal has ruled.
The ruling followed an appeal by a widow who was denied additional compensation after her husband fell over a precipice on his way to the lavatory while patrolling the country's disputed border with China in August 2009.
The army had decided Sepoy Lakshman Kumar's widow Daxna Devi was not entitled to extra compensation for the survivors of soldiers who die "on duty" because he was taking a break from his patrol at the time.
The families of those killed or who die on duty receive an extra ten per cent in compensation.
An Armed Forces Tribunal overturned the decision this week and ordered the Army to pay the widow a million rupees (£11,000) in damages.
The late soldier's regiment had originally recorded his death as "on duty" but the decision was reversed by the Army's accounting division.
His widow described its decision as "perverse", the Times of India reported.
"It seems strange that [they are] suggesting that a person should not even go out to attend nature's call and if he does, he shall not be considered on duty," she said at the time.
"Such an approach of authorities is also against the very existence of human biology."
Indian soldiers on the lavatory 'still defending their country' - Telegraph
The ruling followed an appeal by a widow who was denied additional compensation after her husband fell over a precipice on his way to the lavatory while patrolling the country's disputed border with China in August 2009.
The army had decided Sepoy Lakshman Kumar's widow Daxna Devi was not entitled to extra compensation for the survivors of soldiers who die "on duty" because he was taking a break from his patrol at the time.
The families of those killed or who die on duty receive an extra ten per cent in compensation.
An Armed Forces Tribunal overturned the decision this week and ordered the Army to pay the widow a million rupees (£11,000) in damages.
The late soldier's regiment had originally recorded his death as "on duty" but the decision was reversed by the Army's accounting division.
His widow described its decision as "perverse", the Times of India reported.
"It seems strange that [they are] suggesting that a person should not even go out to attend nature's call and if he does, he shall not be considered on duty," she said at the time.
"Such an approach of authorities is also against the very existence of human biology."
Indian soldiers on the lavatory 'still defending their country' - Telegraph
