Shimla (Himachal Pradesh) [India], June 17 : In a significant ruling, the Himachal Pradesh High Court has held that "parents become entitled to family pension when the widow remarries," while coming to the aid of an 83-year-old mother of a Border Security Force (BSF) soldier.
The single-judge bench of Justice Sandeep Sharma directed the Union of India to grant family pension to petitioner Shankari Devi, who had been denied her rightful claim for decades. The court also quashed the rejection order issued by the Pay and Accounts Division of the BSF, which had earlier declared her ineligible.
Directing the Union Government to act in accordance with the relevant provisions of the Central Civil Services (Pension) Rules, the court stated:
"The Union Government is directed to consider the prayer made by the petitioner for the grant of family pension, strictly in terms of Sub-clause 10 of Rule 50 of the Rules, which makes parents entitled to pension after the remarriage of the widow."
The petitioner had informed the court that her son, Lekh Ram, had joined the BSF in 1979 and got married to one Suraksha in 1985. However, barely ten days after the marriage, Lekh Ram died under mysterious circumstances. His widow, Suraksha Devi, was initially sanctioned a family pension.
In December 1990, Suraksha Devi remarried, thereby becoming ineligible for the family pension. She voluntarily informed the department in writing that she was not drawing the family pension after her remarriage.
Following this, Shankari Devi and her husband, the late Sita Ram (who passed away during the pendency of the petition), applied for family pension. However, their request was denied by the authorities on the grounds that parents of a deceased government employee are not eligible for pension -- a claim that the court has now ruled as erroneous.
The High Court noted that the petitioner was wrongly denied family pension despite being entitled to it under the rules.
"Since petitioner has been fighting for her rightful claim for years together coupled with the fact that petitioner is 83 years old, this Court hopes and trusts that needful at the behest of the Union Government shall be done expeditiously, preferably, within six weeks, by affording due opportunity of hearing," the court observed.
Further, the court added, "In this case, Shankari Devi is found eligible for family pension; she shall be entitled to arrears for a period of three years prior to the filing of the petition."
The Union Government has been directed to file a compliance report within three weeks after the expiry of the six-week period granted to complete the process.