Family Pension Not Subject Matter Of Testamentary Disposition, Husband Can't Exclude Wife And Children From It By Filing Application: Kerala HC

The Kerala High Court held that an employee cannot make a representation that his legally wedded wife or other dependents are not entitled to claim the family pension. The Division Bench comprising of Justice Amit Rawal and Justice K. V. Jayakumar observed that family pension is not an estate or property of the employee and cannot be disposed of as per the will of the employee.“Family pension unlike the other pensionary benefits like provident fund, gratuity etc could not be a subject matter of testamentary disposition by the employee during his lifetime. In other words, an employee cannot bequeath his family pension in favour of another nor he can nominate some other person for receiving family pension other than the one who is entitled to it.”In the instant case, Gopalakrishna Pillai who retired as a Postal Assistant while making the application for pension expressed his intention to not include his wife as a family member. He had also made a representation to strike the name of his wife and daughter from his service book and other records and to declare that nomination made in favour of them for pensionary benefits stands cancelled. Later, he filed another application saying that he had divorced his wife.After Gopalakrishna's death, his wife approached the Central Administrative Tribunal claiming the family pension along with interest. The Tribunal allowed the request and asked the Union to pay the family pension to her until her death or remarriage. Against this order, Union of India approached the High Court.The High Court affirmed the decision of the Tribunal saying that an employee has no right to direct how to dispose the family pension. The Court referred to the Supreme Court decision in Jodh Singh v Union of India (1980) where it was held that what is not payable during the lifetime of the deceased, over which he has no power of disposition cannot form part of his estate. A family pension can be claimed after the death of the employee – therefore it cannot form part of the employee's estate. In Violet Issaac and others v Union of India (2002), the Supreme Court held that employee cannot dispose family pension by testamentary disposition as it is not part of his estate. This view was upheld by the Supreme Court again in Nitu v Sheela Rani & Ors. (2016)The Court also added that family pension is not a debt or security and therefore the authorities cannot insist on the production of a succession certificate for the grant of family pension.Accordingly, the petition was dismissed.Counsel for the Petitioners: Adv. T. V. Vinu (CGC)Counsel for the Respondents: Advocates Sajith Kumar V., Vivek A. V.Case No: OP (CAT) 191 of 2017Case Title: Union of India and Others v S. Sathikumari AmmaCitation: 2025 LiveLaw (Ker) 68Click Here To Read/ Download Order

Family Pension Not Subject Matter Of Testamentary Disposition, Husband Can't Exclude Wife And Children From It By Filing Application: Kerala HC

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