High Court order helps woman get arrears after husband’s death
Sixty five-year-old widow Surinder Kaur, a resident of Tarn Taran, forced the officials of the local Punjab National Bank (PNB) to pay her Rs 5 lakh as interest on her principal amount of Rs 3 lakh. The money was the labour of 11 years of hard work and she had to run from pillar to post to get the amount.
Sharing her troubles here today, an elderly Surinder Kaur said that her husband Raghbir Singh, who was a driver with the Punjab Roadways, Patti, was to get an arrear of Rs 3 lakh for the period 2004 to 2014. He died suddenly in 2014. She applied to the Accountant General (AG), Punjab, for family pension of her husband which was allowed with the local Punjab National Bank, Chaunk Char Khanbha.
After the death of her husband, she requested the bank to pay her the Rs 3 lakh due but the bank authorities paid no heed to her appeals. She then approached the district administration and the senior bank officials but failed to get justice. At last, in 2023, she served a legal notice to the bank authorities to settle her claim but the bank officials overlooked it. She then filed a civil writ petition in the Punjab and Haryana High Court through her lawyer. After a year-long ordeal, the court ordered to give her the dues with 18 per cent interest within eight weeks but the bank authorities even then refused to release the principal amount. Surinder Kaur, through her lawyer, served a notice of contempt of court, and was then given the amount of over Rs 8 lakh. Surinder Kaur has expressed her satisfaction over the development with justice being rendered to her by the Punjab and Haryana High Court.
Jatin Gambhir, manager of the PNB, confirmed here on Friday that besides the arrear of Rs 3 lakh, the principal amount and interest worth more than Rs 5 lakh has been sent into the account of Surinder Kaur.