6 children, decades together: Patna High Court orders family pension for second wife

The Patna High Court issued an order for the state of Bihar to reassess a widow's eligibility for family pension. Officials had mistakenly neglected a crucial application from the deceased husband's past seeking permission for his second marriage to her. Given the couple's long relationship and six children, the court ruled she should be granted "spouse" status, entitling her to receive the pension in her old age.

The dispute arose after her husband died in April 2009. The widow claimed they had six children together, including four daughters. When authorities rejected her pension claim, they said he hadn't obtained necessary permission before marrying her. Justice Purnendu Singh ordered the chief engineer to reconsider the case with the correct facts.

The court reviewed Rule 23(2) of Bihar's Government Service Conduct Rules, which restricts government employees with living spouses from getting remarried, but allows permission if the marriage is permissible under personal law and has other grounds. State lawyers argued he hadn't gotten the required sanction and cited Hindu law prohibiting second marriages during a first wife's lifetime. However, the court noted the husband submitted an application seeking permission on February 28, 1982, before marrying her.

The court also cited a 1996 Finance Department resolution that clarified second wives of deceased government employees who married during their first wife's lifetime wouldn't receive family pension, but minor children born from such marriages would. The petition's claim that the first wife was issueless and hadn't objected to the second marriage was noted.

The judge emphasized that rejecting the pension claim solely because prior permission wasn't obtained ignored the husband's application and surrounding circumstances, making the February 5, 2019 order invalid. The court directed the engineer to pass a new order considering these facts, including the husband's application and the widow's claim for family pension after her first husband's death. The widow was expected to receive pension from April 17, 2009, the date of her husband's demise, until her own death.