Smt. Bharati Deka v. The State of Assam and 11 Ors

ORDER

01.08.2024. Heard Shri KU Ahmed, learned counsel for the petitioner and Shri RR Gogoi, learned Standing Counsel, PHE. Also heard Shri A Chakraborty, learned State Counsel, Assam as well as Ms. RN Baruah, learned counsel appearing on behalf of Shri A Chaliha, learned Standing Counsel, Finance Department. Shri SK Medhi, learned Standing Counsel, Accountant General, Assam is also present.

¶2The matter pertains to a claim for family pension. As per the facts projected, the son of the petitioner, Bishnu Deka was serving as a Pump Operator in the Public Health Engineering Department. While serving as such, he had passed away on

18.5.2012. It is the specific case of the petitioner that though her son was married, his wife had eloped during the lifetime of her son and had also got married to another person.

¶3The deceased had four sons and daughters and all are married and they have also been made party respondents. Though the petitioner, who is the dependent mother, had made a claim for release of the family pension and other benefits owing Page No.# 4/5 to the services of her deceased son, the same has not been released.

¶4Shri Ahmed, learned counsel for the petitioner has submitted that the wife of the deceased and all the sons and daughters have been made parties. Apart from the fact that the sons and daughters are all married and will not have any claim on the family pension, even the wife had eloped during the lifetime of the deceased and got married. He has also submitted that none of the aforesaid parties, who have been made respondents, have appeared in spite of services made and has contested the proceedings.

¶5Shri Gogoi, learned Standing Counsel of the Department has submitted that the proposal was sent to the office of the Accountant General, Assam.

¶6Shri Medhi, learned Standing Counsel, Accountant General has, however, submitted that it is only on the issue regarding any entitlement by the wife for which the release has been delayed. He has also placed on record a communication dated

05.08.2022 issued by the office of the Accountant General, Assam to the PPG Department, Government of Assam, seeking their views.

¶7This Court has considered the submissions and also the materials placed on record.

¶8It appears that while the proposal has been duly sent by the Administrative Department to the office of the Accountant General, only on the issue of existence of the wife of the deceased that the matter has been put on hold. The communication dated 05.08.2022, however, reveals that the wife had eloped with another person during the lifetime of the deceased and is continuing her relationship with that person as husband and wife. However, there was no divorce paper. It also, however, appears Page No.# 5/5 that the wife has not made any claim for family pension and even the instant proceeding has not been contested by her. Delaying the aspect of release of pension only for the issue mentioned above would not be in the interest of justice. Since there is no claim by the wife may be for reasons existing which are also recorded in this order, this writ petition is disposed of by directing that the family pension and other benefits accruing to the deceased be released to the petitioner without any further delay and in any event, within a period of 2 months from today. It is, however, provided that in the event, there is any claim by the wife, the same would be adjudicated for the aspect of apportionment of family pension.

¶9A copy of the communication dated 05.08.2022 is made a part of the records.

JUDGE Comparing Assistant

PageoNo.#o1/5 GAHC010222232021 ooooooo ooooooooooooooo ooooooooooooooooTHEoGAUHATIoHIGHoCOURTo (HIGHoCOURToOFoASSAM,oNAGALAND,oMIZORAMoANDoARUNACHALoPRADESH)o CaseoNo.o:oWP(C)/7353/2021o SMT.oBHARATIoDEKAo W/OoLT.oSATISHoCHANDRAoDEKA,oM/OoLT.oBISHNUoDEKA,oR/OoNAVAo NAGAR,oP.O.-BENGENAoKHUWA,oDIST-GOLAGHAT,oASSAM,oPIN-785702 VERSUSo THEoSTATEoOFoASSAMoANDo11oORS.o REPRESENTEDoBYoTHEoCOMMISSIONERoANDoSECRETARYoTOoTHEoGOVT.o OFoASSAM,oPHEoDEPARTMENT,oDISPUR,oGUWAHATI-6 2:THEoSECRETARYoTOoTHEoGOVT.oOFoASSAM oPENSIONoANDoPUBLICoGRIEVANCESoDEPARTMENT oDISPUR oGUWAHATI-6 3:THEoCHIEFoENGINEER oPHEoDEPARTMENT oASSAM oHENGRABARI oGUWAHATI-36 4:THEoEXECUTIVEoENGINEERo(PHE) oGOLAGHAToDIVISION oGOLAGHAT oPIN-785621 5:THEoACCOUNTANToGENERAL oGOVT.oOFoASSAM oMAIDAMGAON oBELTOLA oGUWAHATI-29 PageoNo.#o2/5 6:THEoTREASURYoOFFICER oGOLAGHAT oDIST-oGOLAGHAT oASSAM oPIN-785621 7:THEoCOMMISSIONERoANDoSECRETARYoTOoTHEoGOVT.oOFoASSAM oFINANCEoDEPARTMENT oDISPUR oGUWAHATI-6 8:SMTI.oSUNITAoDEKA oW/OoLT.oBISHNUoDEKA oPRESENTLYoW/OoJOGENoDEKA oVILL-oPODUMONIGAONo(NEARoTELEPHONEoEXCHANGE) oP.O.-SARUPATHAR oDIST-GOLAGHAT oASSAM oPIN-785601 9:BIMANoDEKA oS/OoLT.oBISHNUoDEKA oR/OoSARUPATHARoBUSoSTAND oP.O.-SARUPATHAR oDIST-GOLAGHAT oASSAM oPIN-785601 10:SMT.oJOYSHREEoDEKA oD/OoLT.oBISHNUoDEKA oW/OoMADHURYYAoBHUYAN oR/OoTELAHI oP.O.-TELAHI oDIST-oMORIGAON oASSAM oPIN-782412 11:SMTIoMOMIoDEKA oD/OoLT.oBISHNUoDEKA oW/OoNITULoGOGOI oR/OoNAGAJURIoVILLAGE oP.O.-SARUPATHAR oDIST-GOLAGHAT oASSAM oPIN-785601 12:SMT.oKARABIoDEKA oD/OoLT.oBISHNUoDEKA Page No.# 3/5 W/O TAPAN DEKA (EX. HUSBAND) R/O BHURBANDHA P.O.-BHURBANDHA DIST- MORIGAON ASSAM PIN-78210 Advocate for the Petitioner : K U AHMED, MS P SARMA,MS N HASAN Advocate for the Respondent : GA, ASSAM, MR. S K MEDHI (r-5),SC, P H E,SC, FINANCE,SC, AG BEFORE HONOURABLE MR. JUSTICE SANJAY KUMAR MEDHI