Family pension stopped after 7 yrs due to this reason

On September 5, 1994, Mr. Kumar, a sub-inspector in the police force, was appointed and was scheduled to retire on May 31, 2027. However, on September 8, 2003, he tragically died in a naxalite bomb blast while on duty at Tilathou Police Station in Rohtas. Following an investigation, it was confirmed that his death was indeed caused by the blast.

In response, an ex gratia payment of Rs 10 lakh was granted to his wife, Smt Kumari, on November 21, 2003, and she started receiving a family pension on September 9, 2003, until her husband's death on September 8, 2010. This pension was subsequently stopped, leading Kumari to request an extension from the authorities. She filed numerous representations and applications, eventually taking her case to court.

The key issue was a 2005 Bihar government policy notification, which extended special/extraordinary pension to all government employees who died in the line of duty due to violence, thereby eliminating the seven-year cap. However, this notification was deemed non-retrospective by the Patna High Court, as it lacked an explicit provision for retroactive application.

The court ruled that the policy's scope could not be expanded beyond its stated terms, as it expressly stated its effectiveness from the date of issuance and was limited to cases approved by the Ex-Gratia Grant Committee on June 15, 2005. The court emphasized that statutory provisions are generally prospective, and any attempt to retrospectively apply them would be considered a rewriting of the policy, which is legally impermissible.