58 yrs on, constable's widow struggles for revised pension
Saurabh Malik
Chandigarh, February 20
Nearly six decades after constable Man Singh laid down his life in an encounter with Pakistani paratroopers in September 1965, a dispute has now arisen between the states of Punjab and Haryana on liability to pay pension, compelling his 82-year-old widow to move the Punjab and Haryana High Court.
Haryana vs Punjab
A dispute has now arisen between the states of Punjab and Haryana on liability to pay pension
Taking up the matter, Justice Arvind Singh Sangwan asserted both states, on the face of it, were putting the liability on each other. The matter, as such, was required to be looked into for providing immediate financial assistance to the petitioner–war widow.
Justice Sangwan also made it clear that the state found at fault for wrongfully fixing the liability on the other would have to bear Rs 1 lakh costs. The Accountants-General (AG) of Haryana and Punjab were directed to hold a joint meeting before seeking requisite information from the Superintendents of Police concerned and a bank for submitting a categorical report on the state disbursing the pension since 1965 onwards.
Justice Sangwan set a month’s deadline for the report’s submission, failing which the Accountants-General were asked to remain present. The case has its genesis in a petition by widow Suraj Kaur to settle “the revision of extraordinary family pension”.
Disposing of the petition in March 2022, the HC asked the Punjab Director General of Police to pass a speaking order on her legal notice and release within six months any benefit she was found entitled to. The matter was brought to Justice Sangwan’s notice after a contempt petition was filed against DGP Gaurav Yadav through counsel Vivek K Thakur with advocate Arjun Dev and Mehak Bedi.
Justice Sangwan observed the petitioner was granted family pension after her husband laid down his life in the erstwhile state of Punjab. Thakur’s argument was that all the relevant documents for family pension had already been sent.
Referring to the Punjab DGP’s affidavit, Justice Sangwan observed that the Patiala SSP reported the non-availability of relevant record in the office. He said the representation, as such could not be decided. Accordingly, the copies of documents, including pension form and calculation sheet, were sought. The Punjab AG said the pension case was unavailable in the office. The Haryana AG, on the other hand, said th Ambala Range DIG was found to have taken a final call regarding the family pension. It was, thus, submitted that the pension case was to be decided by Haryana.
The Ambala Range ADGP, meanwhile, referred to report received from the Narnaul Assistant Treasury Officer to say the pension was last revised by the Punjab Government, Finance Department, vide a letter dated March 17, 2009, and the petitioner was being paid pension by Punjab.
