CHANDIGARH: In a historic verdict, the Punjab and Haryana High Court on Monday asked the Centre to pay Rs 1 lakh arrears to the widow of Indian National Army's Surjan Singh - who served as a Netaji Subhash Chandra Bose's bodyguard - for its failure to pay him the freedom fighters' pension. The court also ordered the Union government to pay Gurbachan Kaur, within two months, the arrears due for the past 30 years and an interest of 10% on the total amount till the time of actual disbursement. A division bench comprising justices M M Kumar and Tej Pratap Singh Mann pronounced the order while disposing Gurbachan Kaur's writ petition. Kaur, who hails from Ballianwala village in Tarn Taran district, had moved the high court in 2007. The court pronounced the verdict in a record 10-month time. A division bench, headed by Justice Jagdish Singh Khehar had earlier heard the writ petition and issued notices to the officials concerned. Singh received the pension between 1972 and 1977, before it was suddenly stopped without any reason. The freedom fighters’ division in the Union home affairs ministry ignored various representations for the restoration of the pension. A legal notice, too, was served. Singh, who received Tamra Patra from the then PM, Indira Gandhi, in 1972, fought for his pension till his death in 2000.
Times of India; 4 Mar 2008, 0001 hrs IST , TNN
About Me
- Kamal Kumar Pandey (Adv. Supreme Court of India)
- Lawyer Practising at Supreme Court of India. Court Experience: Criminal, Civil & PIL (related to Property, Tax, Custom & Duties, MVAC, insurance, I.P.R., Copyrights & Trademarks, Partnerships, Labour Disputes, etc.) Socio-Legal: Child Rights, Mid Day Meal Programme, Sarva Shiksha Abhiyaan, Women Rights, Against Female Foeticide, P.R.Is, Bonded Labour, Child labour, Child marriage, Domestic violence, Legal Literacy, HIV/AIDS, etc. Worked for Legal Aid/Advise/Awareness/Training/Empowerment/Interventions/Training & Sensitisation.
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