Supreme Court of India grants pension relief to widow of Shaurya Chakra awardee

The Supreme Court of India has invoked Article 142 of the Constitution to grant extraordinary pension benefits to the widow of a General Reserve Engineering Force (GREF) employee. The deceased officer, who was posthumously awarded the Shaurya Chakra for his actions during a road construction project of strategic importance near the Sino-Indian border, died while saving fellow workers and equipment.

The Court directed the Union of India to provide a consolidated sum of ₹10 lakhs to cover the period from July 13, 2000, to July 12, 2015. This ruling extends benefits under the CCS (Extraordinary Pension) Rules, 1939, noting that the relief should not be limited to the three years preceding the filing of the writ petition.