Nominating Another Woman As 'Wife' In Records Can't Override Legally Wedded Wife's Right To Family Pension: Gauhati High Court

The Gauhati High Court has held that a legally wedded wife of a deceased government employee cannot be denied family pension merely because the employee had nominated another woman as his “wife” in the pension records. A Single Bench of Justice Kaushik Goswami was hearing a writ petition filed by Shibani Dutta, whose husband, late Sankar Dutta, a retired government employee, had nominated another woman, Gayatri Dutta, as his "wife" for the purpose of family pension and gratuity while submitting his pension papers.“The nomination made by the deceased employee in favour of Smt. Gayatri Dutta, describing her as his wife, cannot override or defeat the statutory entitlement flowing from Rule 143 of the Pension Rules.A nomination is only an administrative arrangement facilitating payment and cannot enlarge or create substantive rights in favour of a person who is otherwise not entitled under the governing statutory provisions,” the Court held, adding that mere fact that the Pension Payment Order (PPO) and the Gratuity Payment Order (GPO) reflected another woman's name could not be a ground to deny the lawful claims of the legally wedded wife.The Court observed that family pension is “neither a bounty nor a matter of grace.” “Where the Rules recognize only the legally wedded wife as the primary beneficiary, such statutory right cannot be divested by describing another person as wife in the pension records,” the Court said.Justice Goswami concurred with the Gauhati High Court's judgement in Tinku Das and others vs. State of Assam and others (2019), which had held that “where the first marriage of a Hindu employee subsists, the woman claiming to be the second wife is not entitled to family pension notwithstanding any nomination made in her favour.”Referring to the Hindu Marriage Act, the Court observed, “a second marriage contracted during the subsistence of a valid first marriage is void.” Therefore, even if another woman had been living with the deceased employee, such circumstance would not confer upon her the legal status of a wife so as to claim family pension, particularly when the employee is legally wedded to another woman till his death, the Court said.In the present case, the petitioner married late Sankar Dutta in 1970. The couple has two daughters from the marriage. Sankar Dutta retired from the service on attaining the age of superannuation on February 28, 2002, while serving as the Deputy Director of Economics and Statistics in Government of Assam, and drew monthly pension till his demise in January 2021.In 2007, Sankar Dutta filed a divorce petition. However, it was dismissed for default and non-prosecution. The petitioner contended that she continued to remain the legally wedded wife of late Sankar Dutta till his death and was entitled to family pension and Death-cum-Retirement Gratuity.The respondents argued that the deceased employee had nominated Gayatri Dutta, describing her as his wife, for the purpose of family pension and gratuity. Due to this, the petitioner's claim could not be processed.Disposing of the petition, the High Court directed the authorities to examine the petitioner's claims afresh in the light of the observations made by the Court.Case: Smt. Shibani Dutta v State of Assam, WRIT PETITION (CIVIL) NO. 6004 OF 2023Click Here To Read/Download Order

Nominating Another Woman As 'Wife' In Records Can't Override Legally Wedded Wife's Right To Family Pension: Gauhati High Court

Amruta Gangajaliwale

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Nominating Another Woman As 'Wife' In Records Can't Override Legally Wedded Wife's Right To Family Pension: Gauhati High Court

Amruta Gangajaliwale

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