The court held that a police officer's death due to cardiac issues while on duty in a high altitude area was attributable to service conditions, entitling the widow to Extraordinary Pension and ex-gratia compensation.

JUDGMENT : 

SHALINDER KAUR, J.

1. The present petition under Article 226 of the Constitution of India has been filed by the widow of late Inspector (General Duty), Bhagmal Jamwal, who unfortunately passed away while serving with the 54^th Battalion (Bn.) in the Indo-Tibetan Border Police Force (ITBPF), seeking the following reliefs:

“i) To issue a writ of certiorari for quashing of the order dated 24.12.2021 whereby the Legal notice dated 08.10.2021 has been arbitrarily rejected by the Respondents.

ii) To issue a writ of mandamus directing the  Respondents to grant the benefits of Ex-gratia lump sum amount of Rs.35 lakh and extra ordinary pension as per Rule 3-A of the CCS (EOP) Rules along with arrears and interest in favour of the Petitioner considering the death of her husband whilst being on active duty at high altitude area of Arunachal Pradesh as per the policies in vogue.”

2. The following factual narration unravel the raison d'etre for filing the present petition:

a. The Shri Bhagmal Jamwal, late husband of the petitioner, (hereinafter referred to as the ‘deceased’) joined the ITBPF as a Constable (GD) on 06.11.1980 and gained various promotions during his service. He was ultimately promoted to the rank of Inspector (GD) on 23.06.2011, the post he was serving at the time of his demise.

b. During his career, which spanned over three decades, the deceased had served at various stations, including various Extreme Hard Areas such as Sirahan, Kinnaur in Himachal Pradesh; Gauchar in Uttrakhand; Srinagar in Jammu & Kashmir; Leh & Ladakh on two separate occasions, as also other Hard Areas in the North East, that is, Sikkim and Arunachal Pradesh. Apart from his abovementioned postings, he was also, from time to time, an Instructor at the Basic Training Centre of ITBPF.

c. While he was posted with the 54^th Bn. of the ITBPF at Ziro, District Lower Subansiri, Arunachal Pradesh, for Border Guarding Duty in 2016, the deceased, on 14.03.2016, experienced a sharp pain in his chest. However, at the said time, he did not pay any heed to the pain as he thought the same was a result of a muscle pull/spasm while playing badminton. As the pain did not subside but had also spread to his back, the deceased reported the same to his superiors. They, thereafter, directed that he be taken to the District Hospital Ziro, Arunachal Pradesh, where he was examined, and the ECG report revealed that his heart was in a poor condition and he required urgent and immediate medical attention. He was referred to the Government Medical College, Guwahati, Assam for further medical treatment.

d. Despite his ailment warranting urgent treatment, the deceased was taken to Naharlagun in an ITBPF vehicle, which was the closest Railway Station, being situated four hours away from Ziro. From there, he took an overnight train to Guwahati, where upon his arrival, he was first taken to the ITBPF Transit Camp and thereafter to the Government Medical College, Guwahati.

e. The deceased succumbed to his cardiac condition and passed away on 18.03.2016. The cause of death was ascertained as“acute  anterior wall my cordial infraction with complete heart block with cardogenic shock with acute kidney injury and coronary artery diseases tripal vessel disease.”

f. Thereafter, since the petitioner had not received complete information pertaining to her husband’s death, she preferred an application under the Right to Information Act, 2005 (RTI), seeking the following documents:

“I. Copies of opinion and recommendation of COI board in the death case of my husband.

II. Final order of Commandant, 54 Bn in the COI of death case.

III. Annual Medical check-up Report/Medical category of my husband for the period of 5 years.

IV. Reason for non payment of Ex-gratia & Extra ordinary pension to the applicant while my husband died on duty.

V. Interest upon leave Encashment amount paid after none than 3 years due to non submission of no due certificate, to Pension Cell, ITBP by Comdt 54 Bn. Wh