Rule denying family pension illegal: HC

Saurabh Malik

Tribune News Service

Chandigarh, February 25

Forty years after the Haryana Government came out with a directive to deny family pension to its employees transferred to other governments, companies, corporations, boards and municipal committees, the Punjab and Haryana High Court has struck down the offending rule in the instructions after holding it as illegal.

The ruling by Justice Kuldip Singh is expected to benefit a virtually incalculable number of retired employees as pension can be claimed even after decades, with the rules of limitation setting deadlines for filing court cases not coming to the aid of the government.

The ruling came on a petition filed against Haryana and other respondents by Tara Devi through counsel Manu K Bhandari. The court was told that the petitioner’s husband, initially employed with the Director Urban Estate, was absorbed in HUDA in September, 1978, after he was sent there on deputation.

The Haryana Government had granted him pro rata pension on account of 13 years, four months and five days of service under the Director Urban Estate after he superannuated from HUDA in October, 1997. But, family pension was denied to his next of kin after the employee died in November, 2012, on account of instructions dated May 11, 1977.

Bhandari told the Bench that the instructions dealt with cases of Haryana Government employees transferred to other governments, companies, corporations, boards and municipal committees. He referred to condition “12A (viii)” in the instructions, which said the government would have no liability to pay family pension in such cases. Taking up the matter, Justice Kuldip Singh asserted that the short law point arising before the court was whether the family was liable to get to family pension when the deceased employee, entitled to pro rata pension for previous service under the government, died while receiving the pension.

Justice Kuldip Singh asserted that the Family Pension Scheme, 1964, provided for grant of family pension to deceased government employee’s next of kin and was admissible on account of the employee’s death after his retirement. Admittedly, the wife was included in the family’s definition.

Justice Kuldip Singh added that the rules ran contrary to Family Pension Scheme. “The government cannot make discrimination that the family of employees, who were absorbed under the other departments and who were being allowed pro rata pension on account of service rendered under the government, will not be allowed family pension.

“Once a retired employee is getting pension from the government, the necessary consequences will follow that on account of his death, his family will be on the same footing as a retired employee under the government and be entitled to family pension as such. Accordingly, Rule 12A (viii), denying the liability of the government for family pension in such cases, is held illegal and struck down,” he ruled.