Uttarakhand High Court Directs States To Grant Extraordinary Pension To Widow Of Police Officer Who Lost His Life While On Duty

The Uttarakhand High Court directed the State to sanction and grant extraordinary pension in favour of the widow of a police officer who lost his life while on duty.

Ramesh Chand Rajwar, was a Sub Inspector (Civil Police) in the Police Department. In the year 2013, he was posted at Police Station Dharchula and was in charge of the Special Operation Group  constituted for controlling typical crimes such as forest smuggling, and poaching. On 25.09.2013 at 8:15 P.M., the Police Station was informed that forest smugglers had entered the forest, and were carrying on their nefarious activities. Therefore, he went to the scene of crime in Tawaghat Tapovan. While he was returning from the scene of the crime, his vehicle got trapped in a landslide caused by the heavy rains. A boulder struck his head; he died on the spot. Due to the death of her husband, the Department granted the family pension to his wife. But the extraordinary pension was denied.

According to the Department, Rule 3 of the Rules are applicable to only those police personnel who are engaged against the dacoits, or armed offender, or foreign intruders or "during engagements in other activities". The single bench, allowed the writ petition filed by his wife challenging this and directed the state to grant extraordinary pension.

"The petitioner's husband was on special duty to control the anti-social elements; while returning from discharging his duties, the petitioners husband met his death. Thus, naturally, the petitioner's claim for receiving extraordinary pension is clearly covered both by Rule 3 of the Rules, and by Government Order dated 19.08.1988.", the bench comprising the Chief Justice Raghvendra Singh Chauhan and Justice Alok Kumar Verma observed while upholding the single bench order.

The court observed that the police officer risked his life in order to tackle the menace caused by the forest smugglers, or poachers.

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