Divorced daughter living separately before parent's death is eligible for family pension.

The applicant, Smt. Binata Naik, a divorced daughter of a deceased railway employee, filed the OA challenging an order dated 20.08.2021 which rejected her prayer for family pension.

The applicant's mother, a Sweeper/Jamadar in the Chief Health Inspector, E.Co.Rly., Jajpur Keonjhar Road, expired on 31.05.2018.

The applicant had been residing with her mother since 2015 and claimed to have no independent source of income.

Although married on 10.05.1985, the applicant obtained a consent decree for separation from her husband from the Judge, Family Court, Cuttack on 25.04.2019.

Representation for family pension was made, but rejected by the respondents on 20.08.2021, on the ground that the divorce occurred after her mother's death.

The respondents contended that the Civil Proceeding No. 372 of 2018 for mutual consent divorce was filed on 20.07.2018, after the railway employee's death on 31.05.2018.

They cited para 6 of RBE No. 102/2017, which states that family pension is granted to a divorced daughter only if divorce proceedings were filed during the lifetime of the employee/pensioner or his/her spouse.

Whether the applicant, a divorced daughter whose divorce decree was granted after her mother's death but who had been separated from her husband prior to her mother's death, is entitled to family pension under the relevant rules.

The court considered RBE No. 102/2017 regarding the grant of family pension to a divorced daughter where divorce proceedings were initiated during the lifetime of the employee/pensioner or spouse.

It also relied on the principles established by the Hon’ble High Court of Bombay (Nagpur Bench) in UOI & Ors Vs Smt. Usha Eknath Patil, WP No. 6884/2016, AIRONLINE 2018 BOM 736, which emphasized the welfare objective of family pension provisions for destitute women and interpreted "divorced daughter" broadly to include those separated for a long period.

The court noted that the respondents rejected the applicant's claim based on the divorce occurring after her mother's death, citing RBE No. 102/2017.

However, the court found the present case to be similar to UOI & Ors Vs Smt. Usha Eknath Patil.

In the Usha Patil case, the High Court held that where a daughter was not residing with her husband for a significant period and was considered a member of her deceased father's family and destitute, even if the formal divorce decree came later, she was covered under the family pension provisions.

Applying this precedent, the court highlighted that the Family Court's order in Civil Proceeding No. 372/2018 specifically observed that the applicant and her husband had been living apart since 20.05.2015, which was before her mother's death on 31.05.2018.

This indicated that the applicant was staying apart from her husband and residing with and dependent on her mother, facts which were also recorded in the civil court decree.

Therefore, the court reasoned that the spirit of the family pension provisions, which extend to divorced daughters and aim to provide for destitute women, covered the applicant's situation.

The court quashed the impugned order dated 20.08.2021.

It was held that the applicant is entitled to family pension after the death of her mother.

The respondents were directed to issue compliance orders within 90 days from the date of receipt of the order.