JUDGMENT

This writ petition seeks to highlight the predicament faced by the Indian Army with respect to the pension payable to the legal heirs of one deceased Anandan, who was originally working with the Madras Regiment, having entered the service during 1968 and having worked with the Army till 31.01.1978 and thereafter joining the services of General Reserve Engineer Force (GREF) in 1982 and continuing to serve GREF till 1994, when he was discharged from service. It may also be noticed that Anandan passed away in 2006. Anandan was married to the petitioner herein in the year 1960, as evidenced by Exts.P8, P8A and P8B certificates dated 15.06.2008, 26.09.2008 and 21.03.2007, respectively. However, in the Army records, the name of the 7^th respondent herein was shown as his wife – the next of kin, whereas in the GREF records the name of the petitioner was shown as next of kin. The petitioner points out that the family pension upon the death of Anandan was not being paid on account of which the writ petition was presented before this Court and was later transferred to the Armed Forces Tribunal (AFT), upon its constitution. The AFT, by Ext.P12 order dated 07.01.2013, found that if ther