Second Wife Gets 100% Family Pension as Sole Beneficiary, Rules Punjab & Haryana High Court

In Manjit Kaur v. State of Punjab and others, the Punjab and Haryana High Court has ruled that a widow cannot be denied full family pension merely because she was the second wife of a deceased government employee when she is the only surviving eligible claimant.

Justice Namit Kumar held that family pension must be paid entirely to the sole surviving widow if there are no competing beneficiaries, such as another surviving widow or eligible minor children from an earlier marriage.

The case involved Manjit Kaur, whose husband, Parshotam Lal Puri, had retired as a District Treasury Officer and passed away in 2011. His first wife had died in 1980, and he married Manjit Kaur in 1992. After his death, authorities granted her only 50% of the family pension, treating her as a “second wife” under pension rules.

The State relied on provisions of the Punjab Civil Services Rules that provide for apportionment of family pension among multiple eligible beneficiaries. However, the Court found that these provisions were wrongly applied because the first wife had already passed away long before the employee’s death and there were no eligible minor children from the first marriage.

The Court clarified that pension-sharing rules apply only when more than one eligible claimant exists simultaneously. Since Manjit Kaur was the sole surviving widow, there was no basis for dividing the pension.

Justice Kumar observed that accepting the State’s interpretation would create an unjust situation where part of the pension meant for the deceased employee’s family would effectively remain with the government. The Court said such an outcome would defeat the purpose of the family pension scheme.

Relying on the earlier decision in State of Punjab v. Harpal Kaur, the High Court reiterated that family pension is a right of the legal heirs and forms part of the deceased employee’s estate. The government cannot retain any portion of the pension merely because a hypothetical share of another claimant has ceased to exist.

Accordingly, the Court set aside the 2022 order that limited Manjit Kaur’s entitlement and directed that she be granted 100% family pension as the only eligible beneficiary.