Supreme Court of India invokes Article 142, Constitution of India to grant Pensionary Benefits to widow of Gallantry Awardee

As reported on LiveLaw, the Supreme Court of India has directed that the widow of a General Reserve Engineering Force ("GREF") Employee, who passed away while saving his colleagues during a road construction along the India-China border, be released an amount of Rs 10 Lakhs (1 Million) in arrears of Extra Ordinary Family Pension from the date of death of her husband.

During construction of an strategically important road on the India-China border, Late Mohan Singh spotted a mass coming down a hill-top and hurtling towards their team, he raised an alarm and instructed the dozer operators to move to a safer place. Unfortunately, he was swept away by the impact of the mass which led him to fall 70 meters deep into the valley below. In view of his extraordinary bravery, the Government of India conferred the "Shaurya Chakra" on him, India's third-highest peacetime gallantry award. 

Despite the above, the widow was not in receipt of Extra-Ordinary Family Pension and her representation was rejected stating she had already received compensation under the Workmen Compensation Act, 1923. The Punjab and Haryana High Court, India, initially directed release of the Extra-Ordinary Pension to the widow of the deceased, however restricted the arrears to three years from the date of filing of the petition instead of from the date of death. 

In Appeal, the Supreme Court of India, noting the peculiar facts of the case, exercised their powers under Article 142 of the Constitution of India and extended the benefit from the date of death of the deceased GREF employee. Accordingly, the Union was directed to release an amount of Rs 10 Lakhs (1 Million) to the widow.