Family-pension claims must be decided under the rules after the claimant furnishes the required documents.

The applicant, the daughter of a deceased railway employee who had taken voluntary retirement, sought family pension after her father’s death. Her mother had predeceased her father, and the applicant’s husband had also died. The applicant claimed dependency on her father and said she had submitted representations seeking family pension.

The respondents stated that they had not received one representation and that, by letter dated 4 March 2024, they had asked her to provide documents needed to process her claim. They also relied on the Pension Payment Order’s requirement for a fresh order before family pension could be paid to someone other than the spouse.

The applicant was absent at the hearing, including on the revised call; the Tribunal proceeded under Rule 15 of the Central Administrative Tribunal (Procedure) Rules, 1987, and heard the respondents’ counsel.

1. Whether the applicant was entitled to an immediate direction for payment of family pension, or whether her claim should first be considered after submission of any outstanding documents.

2. Whether the respondents should be directed to decide the applicant’s claim for family pension in accordance with the applicable rules.

The application was brought under Section 19 of the Administrative Tribunals Act, 1985, which provides the basis for an application to the Tribunal for redress of a service-related grievance.

The Tribunal invoked Rule 15 of the Central Administrative Tribunal (Procedure) Rules, 1987, to finally decide the matter in the applicant’s absence.

It also relied on the procedural requirement, recorded in the Pension Payment Order, that family pension for a person other than the spouse required issuance of a fresh Pension Payment Order; the applicant’s substantive entitlement remained subject to examination under the applicable rules.

The respondents had not finally rejected the applicant’s claim; their letter of 4 March 2024 instead sought documents to process it.

Although the applicant stated that she had already furnished available documents, the Tribunal considered it appropriate to require her to provide any further documents still needed and then require the competent authority to decide the claim under the applicable rules.

The Tribunal therefore did not determine that she was entitled to family pension; it ordered consideration of her claim after completion of the document-submission process.

It directed the applicant to furnish any requisite outstanding documents within four weeks of receiving a certified copy of the order.

The competent authority must decide her claim within three months of receiving those documents and, if she is found entitled, release the consequential benefit expeditiously in accordance with law.

No order was made as to costs; any associated miscellaneous applications were also disposed of.