SC slaps Rs 50k on Centre for appeal against soldier's pension to widow

On Tuesday, the Supreme Court imposed a cost of Rs 50,000 on the Centre for filing an appeal against a ruling by the Armed Forces Tribunal (AFT). The AFT had granted a liberalized pension to the widow of a soldier who died during a counter-terrorism patrol in Jammu and Kashmir.

A bench of Justices Abhay S Oka and Augustine George Masih expressed strong disapproval of the Centre's action, stating the widow should not have been dragged into court. "In our view, in a case like this, the respondent should not have been dragged to this court. The decision-making authority of the appellants should have been more sympathetic to the widow of a deceased soldier who died in service," the bench remarked.

The court ordered the Centre to pay the Rs 50,000 in costs to the widow within two months, starting from Tuesday.

The case concerns Naik Inderjeet Singh, who died of a cardiac arrest while on patrol in extreme weather conditions in January 2013. His death was initially classified as a "battle casualty," but later reclassified as a "physical casualty" attributable to military service. While his widow received all terminal benefits, including a special family pension, she was denied the Liberalised Family Pension (LFP). As a result, she filed a petition with the Armed Forces Tribunal.

The AFT ruled in her favour, ordering the payment of LFP along with arrears from January 2013, as well as an ex-gratia lump sum amount typically payable in cases of battle casualties. The Centre and the Army subsequently appealed the AFT's decision to the Supreme Court, which ultimately upheld the tribunal's order and imposed costs on the government.