The Patna High Court has overturned a state government order denying family pension to the second wife of a deceased employee, ruling that she cannot be deprived of her spousal status in her old age after decades of marriage and raising six children.
Delivering the verdict on August 25, Justice Purnendu Singh set aside a February 5, 2019 decision by the chief engineer of the Flood Control and Water Resources Department in Muzaffarpur. The court held that the department had improperly dismissed the woman’s claim by ignoring a formal application her late husband had submitted decades earlier seeking official permission for their union.
Administrative Rejection Overturned
The matter originated after the death of the employee, identified in the judgment as a departmental clerk named Sah, who died on April 17, 2009. The petitioner subsequently applied for family pension benefits as his surviving spouse, submitting that the couple had lived together and had six children, including four daughters.
State authorities rejected her claim on the grounds that the employee had failed to secure the necessary prior approval from the competent authority before contracting a second marriage.
The high court observed, however, that the employee had indeed submitted a formal application on February 28, 1982, requesting departmental permission to solemnise the marriage. Justice Singh held that the administration’s failure to consider this crucial record rendered the 2019 rejection unsustainable and contrary to Rule 23(2) of the Bihar Government Service Conduct Rules, 1976.
State Objections and Legal Framework
Opposing the writ petition, state counsel argued that the clerk had never obtained the mandatory sanction and that applicable service rules and government circulars disqualified the petitioner. The state asserted that personal law prohibits a Hindu man from entering into a second marriage while his first wife is alive.
The state also relied on a September 6, 1996 Finance Department resolution. That directive clarified that a second wife who married an employee during the lifetime of his first wife is not entitled to a family pension, limiting eligibility only to minor children from the union until they reach the age of majority.
Reviewing the regulatory framework, the court pointed out that while Rule 23(2) of the 1976 Conduct Rules restricts an employee with a living spouse from remarrying, it also empowers the government to grant permission if the marriage is permissible under personal law and valid grounds exist.
Decades of Cohabitation and Family Life
Justice Singh noted that the specific circumstances of the household warranted relief to deliver complete justice. Records showed that the employee’s first wife had no children and had raised no objection to the second marriage. Although the employee passed away in April 2009, his first wife died later that year in December.
The judge observed that the petitioner and the employee had lived together, raised a family, and cared for each other, particularly in the period following the first wife’s demise. The court concluded that denying an elderly widow spousal status and financial sustenance was improper, especially since the husband had taken steps to seek permission while still in service.
Directions for Pension Disbursal
Disposing of the petition, the court directed the chief engineer of the Flood Control and Water Resources Department in Muzaffarpur to issue a fresh order taking into account the employee’s 1982 application and the petitioner’s claim following the first wife’s death.
The court ruled that the petitioner is entitled to receive the family pension retroactively from April 17, 2009—the date of her husband’s death—until her own death. Justice Singh instructed the authorities to pass a reasoned order and ensure the release of pension payments in accordance with the law.
