Is divorced daughter eligible for family pension in railway?
kavksatyanarayana
(Querist) 13 September 2014
This query is : Resolved
Dear Expert Sirs, Namaskarams. A retired railway employee died and his wife was sanctioned family pension. Their daughter is living with them since long back. The husband of daughter left the house leaving behind the wife with a male boy who was minor at that time. After some years passed, the daughter filed divorce petition in the local court. But no orders passed till date. Now the mother is aged person and she wants to transfer her family pension after her demise to the divorced daughter. as the orders of the hon'ble court not passed do the mother and daughter give affidavit (be notarized by a notary) that she is dependent to her mother and family pension be sanctioned to her after her mother? is it sufficient to the railway authorities to transfer the family pension to the divorced daughter? please advise in the matter.
Anirudh
(Expert) 13 September 2014
So long as your mother is alive and recipient of family pension, she will continue to receive the family pension. There is no question of transferring the pension from one person to another at the request of the Pensioner.
Further more, only unmarried and divorced daughter is eligible for extension of family pension after the death of the wife/husband as the case may be of the pensioner. In your case, the divorce is yet to take place.
In the meanwhile, you are advised to be in touch with the Railway Authorities (i.e. pension sanctioning authority) to ascertain the correct position, as to what are the documents that they may require to make you eligible for grant of family pension, after your mother. You should also check up whether the official records show you as daughter of the deceased Railway Employee.
Advocate. Arunagiri
(Expert) 13 September 2014
Divorced daughter is eligible for pension. But, she will become eligible only after the spouse of the employee dies.
Documents to be produced are death certificate of the spouse, and legal heir certificate.
Kumar Doab
(Expert) 25 August 2016
In the High Court of Punjab and Haryana, at Chandigarh
Letters Patent Appeal No. 1721 of 2015
Date of Decision: 29.07.2016
Khajani Devi ... Appellant(s) Versus Union of India and Others ... Respondent(s)
CORAM: Hon'ble Mr. Justice Mahesh Grover. Hon'ble Mr. Justice Shekher Dhawan
Single bench judge Punjab and Haryana High Court at Chandigarh had decided that ‘the divorced, unemployed daughter of a freedom fighter would not be entitled to family pension after the death of her parents.
The division bench of Justice Mahesh Grover and Justice Shekher Dhawan has accepted the appeal against the single-judge order.
The high court division bench said that the object of the clause in Swatantrata Sainik Samman Pension Scheme, 1980, was that one member of the family be paid, hence Khajani was eligible.
The bench, observing that pension schemes were intended to honor the valor of the uniformed people who laid down their lives or suffered for the cause of the country. “We would, thus, not place any demeaning interpretation on the scheme to deprive the unsung heroes of the country of benefits meant to ensure a life of dignity to their dependents,” the bench said, adding there was no rationale in including unmarried daughters but excluding divorced daughters.
The recent decision can pave the way in general for laying down in all cases that;"there is no rationale in including unmarried daughters but excluding divorced daughters."
The valuable opinion of learned experts is sought.
