The Punjab and Haryana High Court has intervened to grant long-awaited relief to an 80-year-old widow who has been trying since 1974 to secure her late husband’s family pension and other retirement dues. Justice Harpreet Singh Brar, in an order dated November 14, directed the Haryana government’s electricity department to personally verify her claim and release all lawful benefits within two months.
The court noted that the petitioner, Laxmi Devi, an illiterate and destitute widow, had been “compelled to run from pillar to post for nearly five decades” in her attempt to claim dues following the death of her husband, Maha Singh. Singh, appointed as Lineman-II in 1955, died in harness on January 5, 1974, while working as a Sub-Station Officer under the Haryana State Electricity Board.
Apart from an ex gratia payment of ₹6,026, her counsel said that no other benefits — including family pension, gratuity, or leave salary — were ever released. Despite multiple representations, a writ petition in 2005, and even an RTI application, the authorities allegedly did little more than exchange internal correspondence, sometimes claiming that old records were unavailable.
Justice Brar described the case as a “disheartening and distressing picture of administrative apathy,” remarking that an already grief-stricken and financially fragile widow had been forced to suffer due to “systemic indifference and procedural neglect.”
The court observed that the prolonged delay highlighted “the unfortunate reality that those most in need of justice often find themselves most helpless in securing it.”
Laxmi Devi’s hardships only deepened over the years. In 2007, her son separated from her, leaving her without support. She later became dependent on neighbours and, eventually, her married daughter. She suffered serious illness and became paralytic in 2015.
Justice Brar used the occasion to underscore the judiciary’s constitutional role in safeguarding the rights of vulnerable citizens. The order notes that constitutional courts bear a “sacred obligation” to extend the Constitution’s protective reach to those at the “lowest rungs of the social and economic order.”
The judge emphasised that the principle of constitutional compassion, rooted in dignity and empathy, mandates such intervention. “Extending relief to a voiceless 80-year-old widow and securing her rights is thus not a matter of judicial discretion or benevolence,” he wrote, “rather, it is a constitutional imperative anchored in the Preamble and Articles 14, 19 and 21 of the Constitution.”
He added that when courts fail to protect the weakest, “the constitutional promise stands diminished. But when they rise to defend them, the transformative spirit of the Constitution shines in its truest form.”
The High Court has directed the principal secretary or administrative head of the Haryana electricity department to personally examine the merits of the widow’s claim within two months and ensure that all dues legally owed to her are released without further delay.
Disposing of the petition, the court made it clear that such cases call for urgent and empathetic action, not bureaucratic evasiveness.
