The Delhi High Court ruled that calling primary hypertension a lifestyle disorder alone is not enough to deny disability pension to a retired Indian Air Force (IAF) officer. The court said lifestyles differ from person to person and the medical board must explain its decisions after properly examining each individual. A bench of Justices V. Kameswar Rao and Manmeet P.S. Arora made this clear while rejecting the Centre's petition against an order by the Armed Forces Tribunal. The tribunal had granted the disability pension to the retired IAF officer for his primary hypertension. "It must be noted that lifestyle varies from individual to individual. Hence, a mere statement that the disease is a lifestyle disorder cannot be a sufficient reason to deny the grant of disability pension unless the medical board has duly examined and recorded the particulars relevant to the individual concerned," said the court on January 19. The officer had served 37 years and over five months in the Air Force. He joined in October 1981 and was discharged in March 2019. The Centre argued that his hypertension occurred during peace time and was not caused or worsened by military service. They said the medical board called his condition "idiopathic/lifestyle related disorder." The court noted that the officer was healthy at the time of joining the IAF. It also pointed out that the medical board did not provide reasons showing the hypertension was unrelated to his service or clearly explain why it was classed as a lifestyle disorder. "The position of law in this regard is clear that there is an obligation on the part of the medical board to give reasons for coming to a conclusion, therefore, the medical board must record the reasons, findings while discharging the onus placed upon it," the judgment stated. The court said the tribunal's conclusion was sound and dismissed the petition. The officer will receive the disability element of his pension.