JUDGMENT

1. The lis between the parties has seen a chequered history with the central theme being the demand or claim of the petitioner for family pension in the account of her deceased husband, (L) Lal Bahadur Thapa who had expired sometime in the year 2010. The deceased husband admittedly was a personnel of the Assam Rifles who was enrolled as a Rifleman on 15.10.1940 and was discharged on 15.05.1951.

2. The brief factual background of this case is that the deceased husband of the petitioner during his service was deployed to the battlefields during the Second World War and due to heavy bombardment and explosions of bombs in the battlefield, his inner hearing system was seriously damaged for which he was untimely retired from service on 15.05.1951 after rendering 10 years 7 months and 1 day of service. It is also said that during the period of his service he was promoted to the rank of Lance Naik.

3. The deceased husband of the petitioner on being discharged was granted invalid gratuity amounting to Rs. 228.15 per month, but was never granted pensionary benefits.

4. The deceased husband of the petitioner then went back to his native place at Nepal and settled there permanently. Howev