Second Wife From Void Marriage Not Entitled To Family Pension Under Army Rules Even After First Wife's Death: Delhi High Court
The Delhi High Court has held that a woman whose marriage was solemnised during the subsistence of her husband's first marriage is not entitled to family pension under the Pension Regulations for the Army, 1961, even if the first wife subsequently passes away.A Division Bench of Justice V. Kameswar Rao and Justice Manmeet Pritam Singh Arora underscored that Section 11 of the Hindu Marriage...
The Delhi High Court has held that a woman whose marriage was solemnised during the subsistence of her husband's first marriage is not entitled to family pension under the Pension Regulations for the Army, 1961, even if the first wife subsequently passes away.
A Division Bench of Justice V. Kameswar Rao and Justice Manmeet Pritam Singh Arora underscored that Section 11 of the Hindu Marriage Act clearly stipulates that marriage between a Hindu man and woman is void if the marriage took place during the subsistence of his first marriage.
The Court dismissed a petition filed by one Vidya Devi challenging an order of the Armed Forces Tribunal rejecting her claim for family pension as the widow of late Sepoy Udey Singh.
She argued that since the first wife of Singh died in 2012, the right to receive family pension should devolve upon her.
Rejecting her contention, the Court held that the subsequent demise of the legally wedded wife does not validate a marriage that was void at its inception.
“Consequently, the widow who is entitled to a family pension is the 'wife' who was lawfully married to the officer,” the Court said.
It added that Singh, during his lifetime, did not take any legal steps to dissolve his first marriage despite being separated from his first wife and thus, the subsequent marriage was not valid in the eyes of the law.
“The second marriage of Lt. Udey Singh with the petitioner herein, therefore, continued to remain unlawful until his demise in 2011 and therefore the demise of Smt. Satwati Devi in 2012 would not make the petitioner's marriage valid,” the Court held.
The petitioner woman also sought to rely on an Office Memorandum issued under the Central Civil Services (Pension) Rules, 2021. The Court recorded that her counsel fairly conceded that the CCS Rules were inapplicable, as the case was governed by the Army Pension Regulations.
In any event, the memorandum did not confer rights upon a spouse not lawfully married at the time of the officer's death, the Bench said.
Holding that the Tribunal had rightly upheld the rejection of the petitioner's claim, the Court found no merit in the petition and dismissed the same.
Title: VIDYA DEVI v. UNION OF INDIA & ORS