Chandigarh, Aug. 9 -- The Punjab and Haryana high court has upheld the Armed Forces Tribunal (AFT) decision of awarding higher pension to the widow of an Indian Air Force pilot who was killed in a 1968 crash.

Petitioner Shammi Malhotra's husband Squadron Leader PN Malhotra was the co-pilot of the ill-fated transport aircraft, AN-12, that crashed near the Dhaka glacier in an inaccessible part of Himachal Pradesh on February 7, 1968.

The aircraft was on its way from Chandigarh to Leh to carrying 102 troops for deployment in forward areas of the Indo-China border. All passengers and pilots were declared officially missing on August 19, 1969, and later presumed killed-in-action.

Over 54 years later, in July 2022, the government had rejecte...