Parents Entitled To Pension After The Remarriage Of The Widow
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The Himachal Pradesh High Court ruled that parents are entitled to family pension if the widow of a deceased government employee remarries. The Court directed pension benefits for an 83-year-old mother of a BSF jawan.
The Himachal Pradesh High Court ruled that “parents become entitled to family pension when the widow remarries,” providing support to an 83-year-old mother of a Border Security Force (BSF) soldier.
Justice Sandeep Sharma, on the single-judge bench, ordered the Union of India to grant family pension to petitioner Shankari Devi, who had been denied this right for many years.
The court cancelled the prior rejection by the Pay and Accounts Division of the BSF, which had deemed her ineligible.
The court instructed the Union Government to act in accordance with the relevant provisions of the Central Civil Services (Pension) Rules, emphasizing,
“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.”
Shankari Devi informed the court that her son, Lekh Ram, enlisted in the BSF in 1979 and married Suraksha in 1985. Tragically, Lekh Ram died under mysterious circumstances just ten days after their wedding.
His widow, Suraksha Devi, initially received a family pension but became ineligible after remarrying in December 1990. She voluntarily notified the department that she was no longer receiving the pension.
Following this, Shankari Devi and her late husband, Sita Ram (who passed away during the case), applied for the family pension.
Their application was rejected on the grounds that the parents of a deceased government employee were not eligible a claim the court found to be incorrect. The High Court noted that the petitioner had been unjustly denied her rightful family pension under the rules.
The court stated,
“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,”
Furthermore, it ruled that Shankari Devi is eligible for the family pension and entitled to arrears for the three years preceding her petition.
The Union Government has been instructed to submit a compliance report within three weeks after the six-week period for completing the process.
