New Delhi, 13 August 2026: Shaurya Chakra awardee Mohan Singh Sometimes, the families of those who sacrificed their lives for the country also have to suffer the indifference of those in power. The decades-long struggle of the widow of Shaurya Chakra winner Mohan Singh is an example of this; He had to wait for 26 years to get the special family pension he was entitled to – and that was possible only when the Supreme Court intervened.
Mohan Singh, overseer of the General Reserve Engineer Force, was in charge of the construction work of an important road on the border. On July 10, 2000, when a huge landslide along with debris came down from the top of the mountain, he managed to move the workers to safety, but he himself could not escape and lost his life. The Central Government posthumously honored him with 'Shaurya Chakra' in 2001.
Fought legal battle for 26 years
However, he got relief under the 'Workmen's Compensation Act' instead of the special family pension admissible under the CCS (Extraordinary Pension) rules. The claim was rejected on the ground that since payments had been made under the Workmen's Compensation Act, no generous pension benefit could be given to the family of the deceased under the CCS (Pension) Rules.
He applied to the Punjab and Haryana High Court; The court held that she was eligible to receive extraordinary pension, but refused to grant relief from the date of her husband's death and ordered payment of the outstanding amount only from the date of filing of the application.
Central government made a mistake
When these matters reached the Supreme Court, Justice K.V. The bench comprising Justice Vishwanathan and Justice Arun Pallini observed that the Central government had committed an error; The government should have put Mohan Singh's case in the appropriate Category C of the CCS pension rules and should have given him benefits immediately after his death.
The Supreme Court had said, “In such cases, it should not be expected that the widow of the family will have to approach the court to get relief.” Attorney General R. Venkatramani had submitted that an amount of ₹ 14.28 lakh has been paid to the widow in advance and the pension process will be completed as per the order of the High Court. The remaining amount of ₹4.12 lakh was also released.
The Supreme Court directed that a total of Rs 10 lakh should be paid to Singh for the period between his death and the High Court order.
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