NEW DELHI: The political leadership was kept in the dark over an unexpected withdrawal of income tax benefits to disabled veterans last year, with the bureaucracy moving at an unusual haste to push through clearances within a day, internal government documents that have now come to light reveal.The withdrawal of tax exemptions, which impacted lakhs of retired soldiers, was triggered by officers of the defence ministry ’s finance wing who did not have jurisdiction over the matter but passed on a query to the finance ministry that led to the change.Papers show that neither defence minister Rajnath Singh nor finance minister Nirmala Sitharaman were kept in the loop when the decision was taken nor were consultations carried out between the two ministries.In fact, file notings reveal that the entire process to recommend the withdrawal of benefits was taken within a day –– June 24 last year ––with approvals from all levels within the finance ministry and the Central Board of Direct Taxes ( CBDT ). This was weeks after Singh and Sitharaman took over their new ministerial positions.Internal files show that an officer of the MoD (finance) moved a proposal on October 8, 2015, questioning the grant for disabilities such as backache and hearing loss. The letter seems to have been triggered by orders from the Armed Forces Tribunals (which had favoured the grant of disability pension even for those veterans who had problems like heart ailments).The officer described this move of the tribunals as giving “scant respect to Govt policy”. The anguished letter had strong remarks recorded against the Army headquarters as well and was sent to the CBDT for clarification. While things seemed to have stopped there as the CBDT did not respond, the file was suddenly moved four years later –– in 2019.Internal documents and notings show that the file moved past 11 officials in a single day, believed to have been propelled through by an unseen force in the armed forces. Besides the ministers, the department of ex-servicemen welfare (DESW), which is in charge of veterans affairs, was also not consulted. As reported by ET, the then Chief of Army Staff Bipin Rawat had been working on measures to reduce the number of people getting disability pension.These were part of a series of reforms which Rawat had initiated, including capping education allowances for children of war widows and those wounded in war. The cap on these allowances was, however, withdrawn in March 2018 after the intervention of the then defence minister.The withdrawal of disability tax benefits last year had created an uproar within the veteran community, especially after Nirmala Sitharaman made public a letter by Army HQ that sought to blame some personnel for misusing the system for the change in rules. Defence minister Rajnath Singh, who has gone on record to say benefits of those deserving disability exemptions will not be withdrawn, had intervened in the matter and has asked the department of revenue for a background into the issue.