War Injuries Ordinance, 1941

This 1941 ordinance, from British India and still on Pakistan's books, set up a system for the government to grant relief to people injured during wartime hostilities. Section 3 lets the Federal Government create "schemes" to compensate two groups: ordinary gainfully occupied people who suffer "war injuries" (defined in Section 2(6) as harm from enemy weapons, aircraft, or explosions connected with war material), and civil defence volunteers who suffer "war service injuries" while on duty.

Under a scheme, Section 3(2) allows different types of payments: temporary allowances while someone is incapacitated, larger payments for serious or prolonged disablement or death, and payments for artificial limbs, medical treatment, or surgical appliances.

Section 4 removes the usual right to sue for compensation or damages for a war injury, such as under the Workmen's Compensation Act, 1923, or common law, instead requiring the person to claim relief under a scheme, while Section 4(2) protects someone whose claim was later rejected from being time-barred, so long as they act within one month of getting a rejection certificate.

Section 5 lets the government demand information about a person's earnings from employers or others to work out payment amounts; failing to comply, or giving false information, is punishable with a fine which may extend to three hundred rupees. Section 5A requires dispensaries and hospitals to treat war-injured people and keep records when ordered, with a fine which may extend to one thousand rupees for non-compliance. Section 6 punishes false statements made to obtain a payment with imprisonment for a term which may extend to three months. Section 7 voids any attempt to assign or use a war-injury payment as security for a debt, and such payments don't pass to creditors if the recipient becomes insolvent.

This is a wartime-emergency law from 1941, tied to hostilities that ended decades ago, and has been amended multiple times (1942, 1945, 1965); it is effectively of historical relevance today and any figures should be checked against the current text if ever invoked.