A 97-year-old former Indian soldier who lost his leg in World War II in Italy has won a long court battle against his pension.
He was wounded as a United India soldier before India's independence in 1947, according to AFP.
More than 2.5 million United Indian soldiers, including Balwant Singh, participated in the six-year World War II on behalf of the Allied forces, and 90,000 Indian soldiers were killed and 35,000 wounded in Italy, including Balwant's elder brother Jaswant.
Balwant Singh, from the northern Indian state of Rajasthan, enlisted in the Punjab Regiment of the British Army from India in 1943 and was seriously injured in a landmine blast in Italy the following year.
He was treated at a military hospital for two months after being injured in the blast, after which he was sent back to India.
He was discharged from military service in 1946 on a disability pension of 20 Indian rupees and this amount of pension gradually increased to 7,000 Indian rupees in seven decades.
In 1972, the Indian government decided to provide additional combat pensions to soldiers who had been injured in wars since 1947, or to soldiers who had been injured or disabled during the war, but before that the wounded had been excluded from the list.
Balwant Singh had in 2010 applied to the Armed Forces Tribunal under the aforesaid pension scheme of the Indian Army to increase his annual stipend and recognize his services in the Second World War.
The New Delhi tribunal ruled in his favor this week, doubling his monthly payments as well as the balance due from 2008 onwards.
Expressing satisfaction over the decision, Balwant Singh said, "I am very happy.
His 64-year-old son Subhash said the recognition of his father's military service was more important than the amount of the stipend.
"My father was unhappy with the non-receipt of pensions for soldiers wounded in the war. His sacrifice was not recognized for almost 77 years but now he is happy," he said.
