Chandigarh: Members of the General Reserve Engineer Force (GREF) are undoubtedly part of the armed forces and not regular “workmen” of any ordinary employer or construction agency carrying out normal activities of laying roads and bridges, said thePunjab and Haryana high court, upholding the entitlement of a widow of a Shaurya Chakra recipient to an extraordinary family pension.
The court was of the view that the death of the GREF officer on active duty in a high-risk border area could not be treated as a routine accident. A division bench comprising Justice Ashwani Kumar Mishra and Justice Rohit Kapoor dismissed cross-appeals filed by both the Union of India and the widow, Kuldeep Kaur, and affirmed a single judge’s order granting extraordinary pension under Category ‘C’ of the Central Civil Services (Extraordinary Pension) Rules, 1939. Kuldeep Kaur’s husband, Mohan Singh, an overseer with the GREF, died on July 10, 2000, while supervising road construction work for formation cutting of Hayliang-Metangliang-Chaglohogam Road, one of the China Study Group roads, having national and strategic importance in Arunachal Pradesh along the Indo-China border. According to court records, Singh was swept into a deep valley by a rolling boulder while attempting to save fellow workers and machinery during a landslide triggered by difficult terrain and adverse weather conditions. Recognising his act of bravery, the Centre posthumously awarded Singh the Shaurya Chakra, the country’s third highest peacetime gallantry award. However, his widow was granted only ordinary family pension, along with compensation under the Workmen’s Compensation Act, 1923, and an ex gratia payment that was released years later. The widow challenged the denial of extraordinary pension, arguing that GREF personnel form an integral part of the armed forces and that her husband’s death occurred during hazardous duty in an operational area. The single judge accepted her plea in 2024, directing the grant of extraordinary family pension from the date of filing of the writ petition, subject to the return of compensation received under the 1923 Act. In its appeal, the Centre contended that GREF employees are civilian personnel governed by central service rules and that acceptance of compensation under the Workmen’s Compensation Act barred entitlement to extraordinary pension. The widow, meanwhile, sought enhancement of benefits by claiming that the death should fall under Category ‘E’, which carries higher pensionary benefits, and that arrears should be paid from the date of death. Rejecting both challenges, the division bench held that the extraordinary pension was rightly granted under Category ‘C’ and found no grounds to reclassify the case under Category ‘E’ or to extend arrears beyond what had already been ordered. The court reiterated that the death was directly connected to official duties in a hazardous area and could not be dismissed as a simple workplace accident. BOX We are of the opinion that it cannot be said that the members of GREF are carrying out normal activities of laying down roads, bridges, etc as regular ‘workmen’ of any ordinary employer or construction agency. The nature of activities carried out by GREF, lead to the inescapable conclusion that they are undoubtedly part of the Armed Forces of the UnionHigh Court
