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Sikh INA veteran gets pension
after 55 years
 CHANDIGARH: "Is
he still alive?" asked Lt Gen H.S. Panag (retd), administrative
member of the Armed Forces Tribunal, to which the counsel replied,
"He is alive for this case only."
They were
referring to INA veteran Sepoy Harbans Singh, whose case for service
pension was approved 55 years after his retirement last Wednesday.
Ordering the
revival of his pension within five months, the
Chandigarh
bench of the Tribunal comprising Lt Gen H.S. Panag (retd) and
Justice Ghanshyam Prasad allowed him service pension from 1982
onwards, but the arrears were restricted to three years from the
date he filed a civil writ petition in the High Court.
A resident of
Sector 20, Chandigarh, Harbans has served in the Royal Indian Army,
Indian National Army and Indian Army. He did not get pension all
these years because of an error in his date of enrolment in the
records.
According to
Harbans' case file, he was enrolled in the Royal Indian Army on
September 5, 1940. He revolted against the British rule and joined
the INA, for which he was dismissed on March 25, 1946, and
imprisoned for eight months. "Our court-martial was held near
Delhi," he recalled.
After a break in
service, he was enrolled in the Indian Army on August 21, 1951, and
retired on March 23, 1955.
"The Central
government issued a notification in 1982 that the break in service
period in case of veterans of the INA and the Indian Army would be
counted for pension. Harbans has served for more than 14 years and
six months and is thus eligible for pension after condoning the
deficiency in service," said Harbans' counsel Arun Singla.
It came out that
Harbans was denied pension by the Principal Controller of Defence
Accounts (Pension) because his date of enrolment was wrongly
mentioned as January 24, 1941.
Harbans gave
many representations to the higher authorities in the Ministry of
Defence and the Army Headquarters from 1982 to 1997, but in vain.
Finally, he filed a petition in the Punjab and Haryana High Court on
October 14, 1998. The case was transferred to the Tribunal.
Remembering INA founder Subhas Chandra Bose, Harbans said, "Such a
man is born only once in 400 years.
While making us
join the INA, he told us, "Mujhe pakke aadmi chahiye" (I need people
with firm determination)." Harbans lives with his postmaster son
Dawinder Singh, but remains confined at home owing to poor health.
Asked how he
would celebrate the verdict, he said, "I will celebrate only when I
actually get the money." The INA veteran, who used to get a monthly
salary of Rs 16 in 1940, will get a pension of around Rs 4,600 a
month 70 years later.
10
February 2010
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