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IN THE HIGH COURT OF JAMMU & KASHMIR AND LADAKH AT JAMMU
SANJEEV KUMAR, SANJAY DHAR
Bachan Lal S/o Dharam Chand – Appellant
Versus
Union of India through its Secretary Ministry of Defence – Respondent
JUDGMENT :
Sanjeev Kumar, J.
1. The petitioners invoke extraordinary writ jurisdiction vested in this Court under Article 226 of the Constitution of India to throw challenge to an order and judgment dated 14th February, 2023 passed by the Armed Forces Tribunal, Regional Bench, Srinagar at Jammu [“AFT”] in TA No.400/2017 titled Anjali Sharma v. Union of India and others, whereby the AFT has allowed the petition of respondent No.3 and directed respondent Nos. 1 and 2 to grant ordinary family pension to respondent No.3 on account of death of her husband Sep Sunny Ram as per rules.
2. The petitioners are parents of Late Sepoy Sunny Ram and had lodged a claim before the Army authorities for payment of family pension and other benefits on account of death of their son Late Sunny Ram to the exclusion of respondent No.3. Respondent No.3 was sought to be excluded from the benefit of family pension primarily on the ground that their son Sepoy Sunny Ram was killed by her and that the marriage between late Sunny Ram and respondent No.3 was nullity in the eye of law. The petition/application filed by respondent No.3 before the AFT was contested by the petitioners on the aforesaid grounds. The AFT
A spouse's entitlement to family pension is upheld where there is evidence of a legally recognized marriage, even after prior marriage dissolution, as per customary practices.
Pension benefits cannot be adjudicated through writ jurisdiction in the presence of competing marriage claims; a definitive legal spouse must be established in civil court settings.
The court emphasized that extraordinary family pension claims should be liberally interpreted, rejecting denial based on unsupported allegations of intoxication.
The Central Administrative Tribunal lacks jurisdiction to review Family Court decrees regarding marital status, which are binding and valid, even if ex parte.
A second wife cannot claim family pension benefits unless she can prove her legal marriage to the deceased employee, as the definition of 'widow' under the CCS (Pension) Rules, 1972, requires legal r....
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