Postal Widow’s Stopped Family Pension Must Be Reconsidered Despite Missing Medical Certificate; CAT Directs Review Of Arrears With 6% Interest

The applicant, widow of Late Ajay Kumar Srivastava, sought restoration of family pension and arrears from October 2014.

Her husband had served as a Gramin Dak Sevak from 1982, was promoted to Multi-Tasking Staff (MTS), and died on 4 June 2012, 27 days after joining that post.

Provisional family pension had been sanctioned from 5 June 2012 and paid until October 2014, but was stopped.

The respondents relied on the deceased’s short period of MTS service, the absence of a PRAN account, and the non-availability of his medical certificate and other records.

The applicant maintained that the Department could not deny pension because it could not locate records in its custody.

Rule 54(2)(ii) of the CCS (Pension) Rules, 1972, provides for family pension where a Government servant dies before completing one year of continuous service, subject to the condition that, immediately before appointment to the service or post, the employee was examined and declared fit for Government service by the appropriate medical authority.

The Tribunal also applied the principle that the non-availability of a medical certificate or other departmental records cannot, without proper examination of the claim under the applicable rules, by itself determine the widow’s entitlement; the employee’s prior service and any earlier sanction of provisional pension are relevant considerations.

The Tribunal noted that the deceased had served in the Postal Department as a GDS before his promotion to MTS, and that provisional family pension had been sanctioned and paid to the applicant until October 2014.

Although Rule 54(2)(ii) makes medical fitness relevant where death occurs before completion of one year’s continuous service, the Department’s inability to locate the certificate did not, by itself, resolve the claim.

The Tribunal therefore held that the applicant’s claim had to be assessed in light of the deceased’s past service, the earlier provisional-pension sanction, available service records, and the applicable rules.

It disposed of the application by directing the respondents’ competent authority to reconsider her claim for family pension and arrears, together with interest at 6% per annum, and to issue a reasoned and speaking order within three months of receiving a certified copy of the order.

There was no order as to costs, and pending miscellaneous applications, if any, were disposed of.