Daughter Divorced After Father’s Death Gets Family-Pension Denial Set Aside; CAT Orders Fresh Eligibility Review

The applicant’s father, a retired Survey of India employee and pensioner, died on 24 December 2019.

She claimed that her husband had deserted her in 2004 and that she had depended on her father for her livelihood.

She obtained a divorce decree on 12 October 2021, after her father’s death.

Her claim for family pension was rejected on the ground that she had instituted divorce proceedings after his death, relying on the Office Memorandum dated 26 October 2022.

She challenged that rejection before the Tribunal.

Rule 54 of the CCS (Pension) Rules, 1972 governs family pension eligibility.

The Office Memorandum dated 19 July 2017 provides for family pension to a divorced daughter where divorce proceedings were instituted before a competent court during the lifetime of the employee/pensioner or their spouse, subject to fulfilment of the other prescribed conditions; in such cases, pension commences from the date of divorce.

The Tribunal also relied on the reasoning quoted from Smt. Ujjwala Rani v. Agartala Municipal Corporation & Ors., W.A. No. 37 of 2026, which held that the applicable rule should not be read as requiring a daughter to have been divorced on the date of the pensioner’s death and emphasized the purpose of family pension as support for dependent family members.

The applicant’s divorce proceedings were instituted after her father’s death, and therefore the stated condition in the 2017 Office Memorandum was not met on the facts recorded.

Nevertheless, the Tribunal considered that the applicant’s claimed desertion since 2004, alleged financial dependence, and later divorce decree were relevant to assessing her eligibility.

It held that the respondents should not reject the claim by relying on the date proceedings were instituted without examining the applicable pension provisions and the relevant facts in their entirety.

It directed the respondents to reconsider the applicant’s claim for family pension with effect from 12 October 2021, the date of her divorce decree, and to continue payment during her lifetime.

The competent authority was directed to issue a reasoned and speaking order within 60 days of receiving a certified copy of the order; no costs were awarded.