SARUP DEVI Vs. UNION OF INDIA AND OTHERS

JUDGEMENT

(1.) The petitioner, wife of Late Havildar Badlu Ram, has invoked the extraordinary writ jurisdiction of this Court for issuance of a direction to the respondents to revise the War Injury pension in respect of her husband from 24.04.1946 to 25.10.1988 and to sanction and release family pension to the petitioner w.e.f. 26.10.1988.

(2.) It is the case of the petitioner that her husband joined 15 Punjab Regiment on 25.09.1937 in good health. He was seriously wounded and sustained severe head injury on 12.01.1944 while fighting against the enemy forces and in recognition of his gallantry act, he was awarded Jangi Inaam by the Government of India. The husband of the petitioner was invalidated out of army service on 23.04.1946 and was awarded War Injury pension at the rate of Rs. 10/- per month which he received till his death on 25.10.1988.

(3.) The petitioner claims that such War Injury pension is required to be revised from time to time but. During the course of hearing, petitioner restricted her claim for grant of family Pension after the death of her husband on 25.10.1988. Learned counsel for the petitioner has relied upon Army Instruction 51 of 1980, Annexure P-2, contemplating Family pension admissible to the families of the Armed Forces Personnel who were in service on 01.01.1964 or who joined service thereafter and who died while in service or after retirement with retiring, disability or invalid pension/special pension on account of causes which are neither attributable to nor aggravated by service. Learned counsel for the petitioner also relied upon the provisions of Family Pension Scheme, 1964, wherein family pension is contemplated to be payable to a Government servant entering service in pensionable establishment on or after the 1st January, 1964 and to a Government servant who was in service on the 31st December, 1963, and came to be governed by the provisions of the Family Pension Scheme dated 31st December 1963.