DIVORCED DAUGHTER NOT ENTITLED TO FAMILY PENSION IF DIVORCE PROCEEDINGS COMMENCED POST PARENTS' DEATH.

The applicant's father, an employee of the Ordinance Factory Khamariya, retired on August 5, 2009, and subsequently passed away.

Thereafter, the applicant's mother received a family pension until her death on June 30, 2016.

The applicant, who had been living with her mother since 2010, obtained a decree of divorce from her husband on July 2, 2022, from the Family Court, Jabalpur.

Following her divorce, the applicant sought family pension, claiming dependence on her mother and her status as a divorced lady entitled under Central Government policy.

Her application to Respondent No. 2 on October 20, 2022, was not acted upon, leading her to file O.A. No. 433/2023.

This Tribunal, on May 17, 2023, directed the respondents to decide her representation.

In compliance, Respondent No. 3 rejected her claim for family pension via an impugned order dated August 2, 2023, stating that she did not fall under the dependent category as per CCS (Pension) Rules 1972, because her mother died on June 30, 2016, while her divorce case was filed on September 17, 2021.

Whether the applicant, a divorced daughter, is entitled to family pension under the relevant rules, given that her divorce was finalized after the death of her parents?

Whether the impugned order dated August 2, 2023, rejecting the applicant's claim for family pension, warrants interference by the Tribunal?

The court primarily applied the instructions issued under Gazette notification No. GSR-868(E) dated December 20, 2021, concerning the eligibility of divorced daughters for family pension.

Specifically, clause (vi) of this notification states that in the case of a widowed or divorced daughter, her entitlement to family pension requires that the death of her husband or her divorce took place during the lifetime of the government servant, pensioner, or his or her spouse.

A proviso allows for family pension from the date of divorce if divorce proceedings were filed during the lifetime of the government servant or pensioner or his or her spouse, even if the divorce took place after their death.

The court also noted the general principle that only children dependent and meeting eligibility conditions at the time of the death of the government servant or spouse, whichever is later, are eligible for family pension.

The court found that the applicant's divorce case was filed in 2021, which was after the death of both her father (2009) and mother (2016).

The specific condition under clause (vi) of notification No. GSR-868(E) dated December 20, 2021, dictates that for a divorced daughter to be eligible for family pension, the divorce must have occurred or the divorce proceedings must have been filed during the lifetime of the government servant or pensioner or their spouse.

Since the applicant filed her divorce case after the death of both her parents, she did not meet this essential criterion.

The court distinguished the present case from Smt. Shakuntala v. UOI & Ors., noting that the cited case involved a customary divorce which is not the nature of the present case.

Therefore, based on the applicable rules, the applicant was deemed not entitled to the family pension.

Consequently, the rejection of the applicant’s claim for family pension by the respondents through the impugned order dated August 2, 2023, does not warrant interference.

The Original Application was dismissed.

No costs were awarded.