Patna: While granting relief to a widow who was denied family pension despite raising six children as the second wife of a govt employee, the Patna high court has directed the state govt to pay her the entire pension amount due from the date of her husband’s death.In a significant ruling, the court also struck down a 2019 state govt order which denied the status of “spouse” to a second wife for the purpose of family pension. The court took a humanitarian view, noting that the woman’s husband had sought approval for his second marriage as far back as 1982, but the application remained undecided until his death.A single bench of justice Purnendu Singh, while allowing the writ petition of Kusum Devi, directed the state govt to release all pending pension benefits retrospectively from April 17, 2009, the date of her husband’s death. The Aug 25 verdict came into the public domain on Saturday evening.The case arose after the death of Jay Lal Sah, a Grade-III clerk in the water resources department. Kusum lived with him as his second wife and had six children — two sons and four daughters.In 2019, the state authorities rejected Kusum’s pension claim, citing the absence of formal approval from the state govt for the second marriage.However, the court found a crucial detail overlooked by the department: Jay Lal’s application seeking approval for his marriage to Kusum was available in his service records but had been closed without a decision.Justice Singh observed the Bihar Government Servant’s Conduct Rules, 1976, do not impose an absolute ban on second marriages where they can be justified on personal and procedural grounds.The court further held depriving an elderly widow of financial support after she had raised six children and lived as the recognised spouse of a govt employee would offend the basic principles of equity and justice.
