The single judge bench of the Tripura High Court held that the decision to grant special family pension under Central Civil Services (Pension) Rules, 2021 is dependent upon not only no objection from other claimants but also other factors such as proof of dependency of the widowed or divorced daughter upon the deceased employee.
Brief facts
The factual matrix of the case is that the present application is filed by the Appellant/State in order to challenge the directions passed by the learned single judge to the official respondents to complete all formalities to sanction and release the special family pension in favour of the writ petitioner.
Contentions of the Appellant
The Appellant submitted that the deceased mother of the writ petitioner was a Group D employee in the post of Peon. The writ petitioner got divorced through mutual consent after two and a half years of the death of the employee. Which clearly indicates that the writ petitioner was not dependent upon her mother. It was furthermore submitted that as per the circular issued by the Department of Pension & Pensioners’ Welfare under the Ministry of Personnel, PG & Pensions, Government of India on the subject of family pension under Central Civil Services (Pension) Rules, 2021, an unmarried or widowed or divorced daughter of a deceased Government servant/pensioner, who is not earning her livelihood, is eligible for family pension beyond the age of twenty-five years for life or until she gets married or re-married or until she starts earning her livelihood, whichever is the earliest, subject to the enumerated conditions one of which is that the unmarried or widowed or divorced daughter was dependant on her parent or parents when he or she or they were alive. However, the Petitioner couldn’t produce the dependency certificate. Also, simply not getting any objection from the brothers and sisters of the writ petitioner would not entitle the writ petitioner to claim the special family pension.
Contentions of the Respondent
The Respondent contended that though, at the time of consideration, they had only asked for no objections from other claimants/dependants along with her application for law and does not warrant any interference, the appellants have taken a new stance to question the writ petitioner's eligibility and entitlement for special family pension.
Observations of the court
The Hon’ble Court observed that the decision to award a special family pension is contingent not only on the absence of objections from other claimants but also on other factors, such as documentation of the dependent status of the employee's widowed or divorced daughter, the terms outlined in the circular, and the government guidelines pertaining to the matter in question.
Based on these considerations, the court was of the opinion that the writ court has not considered other factors which may be relevant for taking a decision.
The decision of the court
With the above direction, the court disposed of the application.
Case title: The State of Tripura & Others v. Smt. Nupur Das
Coram: Hon’ble Mr. Chief Justice Aparesh Kumar Singh, and Hon’ble Mr. Justice S.D. Purkayastha
Case No.: WA No.03 of 2023
Advocate for the Appellant: Mr. Karnajit De, Addl. G.A.
Advocates for the Respondent: Mr. T.D. Majumder, Sr. Advocate, Ms. Rimi Debbarma, Advocate.
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