The Calcutta High Court has ordered that half of the family pension of a deceased central government employee be paid to his first wife, while the gratuity should be given to his second wife.
Justice Rito Broto Kumar Mitra passed the order on a petition filed by the first wife, who had sought her husband’s family pension and gratuity.
The court directed the authorities to pay half of the family pension to the first wife within six weeks.
The employee worked with the Central Ground Water Board and died while in service in 2024. According to the court, he had two wives and was governed by Muslim Personal Law.
There is a rule to divide the pension equally between both wives
The court said that under the applicable pension rules, if a government employee has two wives, the family pension must be divided equally between them. This provision is part of the Central Civil Services (Pension) Rules.
In its September 1 order, the court said, “Family pension will be provided under the rules.
According to this rule, if an employee has more than one wife, in the case of two wives, the family pension will be given to both in equal shares.”
After the employee’s death, the first wife approached the authorities seeking her husband’s family pension and gratuity.
The second wife later also applied for the pension and compassionate appointment. The authorities had not accepted the first wife’s claim.
Dispute over the divorce certificate
The court noted that there were disputes while the marriage between the first wife and the deceased employee was still in place. A divorce certificate was also submitted before the court, on the basis of which the authorities had taken action.
The first wife said the divorce certificate had been issued by a Qazi. The Qazi later declared it cancelled and invalid after realising that the deceased employee’s first marriage to the petitioner had taken place under the Special Marriage Act.
The court clarified that it did not need to decide which of the two marriages was legally valid.
Employee nominated second wife for gratuity
The court said that under the applicable Central Government Pension Rules, an employee is entitled to retirement gratuity, while death gratuity is paid after the employee’s death.
Under these rules, an employee can nominate a person to receive the gratuity after their death. The rules give priority to a family member when making such a nomination.
The court found that the deceased employee had nominated his second wife. Therefore, it directed the authorities to pay the gratuity to the second wife according to the nomination.
Decision will be taken on the compassionate appointment applications of both
Government lawyers Pramod Kumar Drolia and Santosh Kumar Pandey told the court that both women had applied for compassionate appointment. They said the second wife’s application was currently under consideration.
The court directed the officials to consider both applications according to the law. It said that whichever of the two women is found legally eligible should be given the compassionate appointment.
Advocates Debashish Kar, Hussain Mustafi and Rimi Sil represented the first wife. They argued that as the first wife, she is entitled to half of the family pension.
