In a significant judgment that acknowledges the supreme sacrifices made by personnel serving in hostile terrains, the Punjab and Haryana High Court has ruled that the widow of a Shaurya Chakra awardee is entitled to an “extraordinary family pension.” The Division Bench, comprising Justice Ashwani Kumar Mishra and Justice Rohit Kapoor, dismissed the Union Government’s appeal and upheld the claim of Kuldeep Kaur, whose husband, Mohan Singh, sacrificed his life while serving with the General Reserve Engineering Force (GREF).
The case dates back to July 10, 2000, when Mohan Singh, an Overseer with GREF, was supervising formation cutting work on a strategically critical China Study Group (CSG) road in Arunachal Pradesh. When a massive boulder rolled down from the hilltop, Singh raised an alarm to save his colleagues and machinery. While he successfully saved others, he was swept away by the debris into a 70-meter-deep valley. For this act of gallantry, he was posthumously awarded the Shaurya Chakra by the President of India.
Despite the award, the government had contested the widow’s claim for an extraordinary pension, arguing that GREF personnel were “workmen” covered under the Workmen’s Compensation Act, 1923, and not members of the armed forces. They further contended that since the widow had already received compensation under the 1923 Act, she was barred from claiming benefits under the Central Civil Services (Extraordinary Pension) Rules.
Rejecting these arguments, the High Court held that the nature of duties performed by Mohan Singh in an active, treacherous border area was “determinative” and must be construed as service equivalent to that of a member of the armed forces. The Bench observed that the incident was not a “simple accident” but a mishap arising from an “act of devotion to duty in an emergency.” The court directed the authorities to release the arrears of the extraordinary pension to Kuldeep Kaur for a period of three years preceding the filing of her writ petition.
