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The State of Uttarakhand v. Sarita Singh and Ors.

Civil Appeal · 2026 INSC 337Decided 9 Apr 2026
C.A. No.-004308-004309 - 2026
Justice J.K. Maheshwari · Justice Atul S. Chandurkar

Background

Dr. Sunil Kumar Singh, a government Medical Officer serving as a Pediatrician at a Community Health Centre in Uttarakhand, was shot dead while on duty in 2016. His widow sought compensation and an extraordinary pension for the family under the Uttar Pradesh Civil Services (Extraordinary Pension) Rules, 1981 (as adopted by Uttarakhand). Although the State initially proposed Rs. 50 lakh compensation, compassionate appointment for the son, and government housing, only Rs. 1 lakh was actually paid alongside the compassionate appointment, prompting the widow to approach the Uttarakhand High Court, which directed the State to pay roughly Rs. 1.99 crore in compensation with interest and to grant extraordinary pension within ten weeks. The State appealed to the Supreme Court, challenging both the compensation amount and the High Court's direct grant of extraordinary pension.

Decision Breakdown

The Supreme Court held that under the 1981 Rules, the grant of extraordinary pension requires the sanction of the Governor, who must exercise independent discretion after examining the relevant facts, since the Governor had never actually been given the occasion to consider the widow's application (which was still pending when the writ petition was filed) and had not refused or delayed unreasonably, it was inappropriate for the High Court to itself direct the grant of pension without letting that statutory authority first exercise its own discretion. Citing precedent that courts should not substitute themselves for the decision-making authority when that authority has not yet had a chance to act, the Court set aside the High Court's direction on extraordinary pension but permitted the widow to file a fresh application to the competent authority, to be decided within twelve weeks uninfluenced by earlier observations. The Court left intact the interim compensation of Rs. 1 crore already paid (clarifying it need not be recovered from her) and disposed of the appeals as partly allowed, considering the family had already received compensation, a compassionate appointment, housing, and family pension.

Lesson Learnt

When a statute or rule vests discretion in a specific authority (like sanction by the Governor), courts will generally require that authority to exercise its own judgment first rather than stepping in to decide the matter directly: a court will intervene only if that authority unreasonably refuses to act or acts arbitrarily, not simply because a citizen approaches the court before giving the authority a chance to decide.

Official source (sci.gov.in)View Judgment (PDF)

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