Supreme Court Grants ₹10 Lakh Additional Relief To Widow Of Shaurya Chakra Awardee Who Sacrificed His Life Saving Workers

The Bench of Justice K.V. Viswanathan and Justice Arun Palli exercised its powers under Article 142 of the Constitution to extend the benefit of extraordinary family pension to Kuldeep Kaur, widow of late Mohan Singh, from the date of her husband's death in 2000.

The Court granted the additional monetary relief despite the fact that Kaur's counsel had earlier restricted the claim for arrears to three years preceding the filing of her writ petition.

The Court was hearing Kaur's appeal against a January 2026 judgment of the Punjab and Haryana High Court concerning her entitlement to extraordinary family pension following the death of her husband.

GREF employee died saving workers during border road construction

Mohan Singh was serving as an Overseer with the GREF and was posted as In-charge Works for formation cutting of the Hayliang-Metangliang-Chaglohagom road in Arunachal Pradesh.

The 57-kilometre road was considered strategically important for the management of the Sino-Indian border.

On July 10, 2000, while supervising dozer operations at a dangerous rocky location, Singh noticed a large boulder and debris rolling down from the hilltop towards the construction equipment.

He immediately alerted the dozer and compressor operators and instructed them to move to safety. He also assisted in moving the equipment away from the site to protect the machinery and, more importantly, save the lives of the workers operating it.

While doing so, Singh could not escape the path of the boulder and was swept away, falling approximately 70 metres into a valley.

In recognition of his bravery, the Government posthumously awarded him the Shaurya Chakra on October 19, 2001. The Shaurya Chakra is India's third-highest peacetime gallantry award.

Widow's claim for extraordinary family pension was rejected

Following Singh's death, Kaur initially received ordinary family pension.

In December 2005, she sought Special Family Pension under the CCS (Extraordinary Pension) Rules, 1939. Her claim was rejected on the ground that she had already received ₹1,84,170 under the Workmen's Compensation Act, 1923, and was therefore not entitled to the liberalised pensionary benefit.

A subsequent representation made by Kaur was also rejected in 2011. She thereafter approached the Punjab and Haryana High Court.

A Single Judge of the High Court held that Singh's death fell within Category 'C' under the applicable pension scheme and granted extraordinary pension, while directing Kaur to return the compensation amount with 6% interest.

The Division Bench upheld the categorisation but restricted the arrears to three years preceding the filing of the writ petition, relying on an undertaking given on Kaur's behalf.

SC questions restriction on arrears

Before the Supreme Court, the categorisation of Singh's death under Category 'C' was not in dispute. The Court, however, examined whether Kaur's monetary relief ought to have been restricted to only three years.

The Bench observed that Singh had made the "supreme sacrifice" of his life and had subsequently been recognised with the Shaurya Chakra.

The Court remarked that the widow or family of a gallantry award recipient should not ordinarily be required to approach a court to secure such a benefit and that the delay in approaching the court should not come in the way of doing justice.

During the hearing, Attorney General R. Venkataramani informed the Court that the authorities had already acted upon the High Court's judgment.

An amount of ₹14,28,200 had been released to Kaur and her pension had been processed. A further ₹4,12,064 towards arrears of extraordinary pension had also been released.

The Union informed the Court that pension payable from July 12, 2000 to July 12, 2015 amounted to ₹6,62,268. With 6% interest, the amount would work out to approximately ₹8.32 lakh.

The Centre also pointed out that Kaur had received ₹1,84,170 under the Workmen's Compensation Act. With interest, the amount was calculated at ₹2,78,092, and according to the Union, ₹4,62,262 would have to be refunded under the applicable regulations.

Kaur's counsel informed the Court that she had already returned the principal compensation amount of ₹1,84,170.

Supreme Court fixes ₹10 lakh relief under Article 142

Considering the circumstances, the Supreme Court fixed a consolidated amount of ₹10 lakh for the period from July 13, 2000 to July 12, 2015.

The Court exercised its extraordinary powers under Article 142 to mould the relief in favour of Kaur, taking into account the circumstances surrounding Singh's death, his Shaurya Chakra award and the long delay in securing the pensionary benefit.

The Court accordingly directed the Union Government to pay the additional amount of ₹10 lakh to Kaur.