Supreme Court slaps ₹50k costs on Centre for challenging pension to soldier's widow

The Supreme Court on Tuesday imposed costs of ₹50,000 on the Central government for challenging the grant of Liberalized Family Pension to the widow of an Army soldier who had died in harness in 2013 due to cardiac arrest during an operational activity close to the Line of Control (LoC) in Jammu and Kashmir [Union of India and Others v. Saroj Devi]..A Bench of Justice Abhay S Oka and Justice Augustine George Masih expressed displeasure at the approach of the government for not showing any sympathy to the widow and dragging the case all the way to the highest court."In a case like this, the respondent ought not to have been dragged to this Court, and the decision making authority of the appellants ought to have been sympathetic to the widow of a deceased soldier who died in harness. Therefore, we propose to impose costs quantified as ₹50,000," the Court said.The Court ordered the fine amount to be paid to the widow of the deceased solider..The case dates back to January 2013 when the deceased had complained of breathlessness during duty in extreme climatic conditions near the LoC. The regimental medical officer found the condition of the deceased very critical.Since the deceased could not have been air-evacuated due to bad weather, he was evacuated via foot. However, by the time he was taken to the nearest medical inspection room, he was declared dead. The cause was determined to be cardiac arrest. The death of deceased was initially classified as 'battle casualty'.But it was later changed to ‘physical casualty’ attributable to military service.The widow of the deceased was granted all terminal benefits, including a special family pension. However, she was denied the Liberalised Family Pension (LFP).Aggrieved, she had moved the Armed Forces Tribunal (AFT) which ultimately ruled in her favor.The Union government approached the apex court against the order of the AFT..The question before the top court was whether the death of deceased fell within the category of 'battle casualty' or 'physical causalty'..The top court noted that the case of the deceased-soldier will lie under the head of 'battle casualty' as the deceased die due to extreme weather conditions while on duty. It therefore held that the death was covered under the Army Order 1 of 2003."The death can be attributed to illness caused by extreme climatic conditions. Hence, as per clause 1 (g) of Appendix ‘A’ of the Army Order 1 of 2003, the case will fall in ‘Battle Casualties’. The reason is that the deceased was operating near LC in extreme climatic conditions. He was part of Operation Rakshak and was on duty near LC. The casualty caused by illness due to climatic conditions is covered by clause 1 (g). In this case, the respondent’s husband was a victim of illness caused by extreme climatic conditions. Therefore, the case of the deceased will fall in the category of ‘Battle Casualties’," the Court observed while dismissing the appeal of the Union..Additional Solicitor General Vikramjit Banerjee appeared for the Union government.Senior Advocate K Parameshwar appeared for the widow of the deceased-soldier..[Read Judgment]