Direct answer

NANA means that a disability is assessed as neither attributable to nor aggravated by military service. The finding can be challenged, but the challenge must engage with the disease, service conditions and the reasons given by the medical board.

Legal position and important distinctions

Attributability concerns service causing the condition; aggravation concerns service worsening a condition with another origin. They should not be pleaded interchangeably. An unremarkable entry examination, a substantial healthy service period, difficult deployment and continuous treatment may matter. Nevertheless, the application must address the board’s actual medical explanation rather than merely demand removal of the NANA label.

Separate three decisions

Diagnosis, the assessed impairment percentage and legal entitlement to pension are different enquiries. Identify which board or authority decides each question. A supporting medical certificate is not final pension sanction. Likewise, a low medical category does not necessarily establish permanent incapacity or inability to undertake civil employment.

Prepare an evidence-based appeal

Date enrolment, first diagnosis, treatment, boards, discharge and rejection. Link every disputed finding to a specific annexure and page. Where ER 2023 applies, examine the six-month first and second pension-appeal provisions from the relevant rejection or sanction letter. Administrative time-bar provisions and judicial condonation before the AFT are distinct. An RTI request or reminder should not cause the original deadline to be missed.

Choose the correct relief

Depending on the defect, seek recognition of entitlement, correct classification, fresh medical consideration, a corrigendum PPO or calculation correction. Reassessment and payment sanction are not necessarily the same decision. Explain the arrears period and interest basis separately.

Practical steps

1. Identify the board’s reasons and relevant medical guidance.
2. Obtain a specialist explanation addressing actual service-related aggravation.
3. Separate factual errors, omitted evidence and requested reconsideration in the pension appeal.

Documents to collect

• Entry medical record
• Posting and duty history
• Specialist reports and NANA decision

Hypothetical illustration

A board treats a condition as pre-existing although the entry record contains no corresponding note. The inconsistency deserves examination, but the complete medical evidence still governs the outcome.

Avoid this mistake

NANA does not necessarily end every pension possibility: examine the separate requirements of invalid pension.

Official sources

• Entitlement Rules and Guide to Medical Officers, 2023 — entitlement, assessment, boards and appeals
• DESW — types of defence pension; invalid-pension policy clarification
• Ex CFN Narsingh Yadav v. Union of India, Civil Appeal 7672/2019, 3 October 2019 — medical evidence, presumptions and recorded reasons
• Armed Forces Tribunal Act, 2007 — sections 2, 3(o), 14–15, 19, 21–24, 29–32

Legal disclaimer

This article provides general legal information and the author’s general analysis, not individual legal advice. Reading it does not create an advocate–client relationship or guarantee an outcome. Rules, policies and judgments can change. Before acting, obtain qualified advice on your documents, applicable dates, jurisdiction and time limits.

Source check: 1 November 2026.