Hasina Begum v. The State of Assam and 7 Ors

ORDER

29.07.2024. Heard Shri AI Uddin, learned counsel for the petitioner and Shri A Chakraborty, learned State Counsel, Assam. Also heard Shri A Chaliha, learned Standing Counsel, Finance Department, Assam as well as Ms. T Begum, learned counsel for the respondent no. 8. Page No.# 3/4

¶2The matter pertains to a claim for family pension.

¶3It is submitted that the husband of the petitioner, Jamshed Ali was serving as a Sub-Inspector, Armed Branch in the 13th Assam Police Battalion and had retired from service on 30.09.1995. On 15.07.2009, the husband of the petitioner had passed away. It is, however, the admitted case of the petitioner that she is the second wife of the deceased government servant and the first wife has been impleaded as the respondent no. 8. It is contended that before the death of the husband of the petitioner, he had divorced the first wife and therefore, the petitioner would be entitled to the family pension. It is also submitted that the respondent no. 8 had concealed the fact of divorce and was claiming the family pension.

¶4Per contra, Ms. Begum, learned counsel for the respondent no. 8 has disputed the aspect of any divorce. She has also pointed out that in the entire writ petition, not a single document relating to such divorce has been able to be annexed.

¶5Shri Uddin, learned counsel for the petitioner has, however, fairly placed before this Court a decision passed by the Hon'ble Full Bench of this Court on the aforesaid issue. The said decision which has been passed in WA/160/2018 (Mustt. Junufa Bibi Vs. Mustt. Padma Begum @ Padma Bibi) on 22.12.2022 has laid down that the second or further wives of the deceased government servant for whom such marriage was permissible under the Personal Law would approach for appropriate orders for maintenance. For ready reference, the relevant observations made in the aforesaid judgment are extracted hereinbelow:

"23. We also provide that in the event any such other persons who are entitled to the benefits of the family pension in terms of Rule 143 of the Pension Rules of 1969, Page No.# 4/4 including the second or further wives, in a case where the parties are governed by the Mohammedan Law, are not appropriately maintained by the eldest of the surviving widow or wife to whom the pension would be paid, the remedy thereof would be to make a claim for maintenance in the appropriate forum under the law and not a claim for a payment of the family pension by the State authorities directly to such persons. But however, if in a given case the State authorities on their own volition are of the view that under an acceptable circumstance the authorities are agreeable or required to pay the pension separately to any such member of a family of a deceased employee, this judgment may not be construed to be an absolute bar on such separate payment."

¶6The learned counsel for the respondents have also submitted that in terms of the aforesaid judgment, the writ petition can be disposed of.

¶7In view of the above and in terms of the aforesaid judgment of Hon'ble Full Bench, more particularly, the observations made in paragraph 23 quoted above, the writ petition is disposed of. The directions of the Hon'ble Full Bench would also be applicable and followed in the present case.

JUDGE Comparing Assistant

PageoNo.#o1/4 GAHC010252262022 ooooooo ooooooooooooooo ooooooooooooooooTHEoGAUHATIoHIGHoCOURTo (HIGHoCOURToOFoASSAM,oNAGALAND,oMIZORAMoANDoARUNACHALoPRADESH)o CaseoNo.o:oWP(C)/7982/2022o HASINAoBEGUMo W/OoLATEoJAMSHEDoALI,oR/OoVILL-oNONOIoSALMARIoMUSLIMoGAON,oP.O.- NONOI,oP.S.-NAGAONoSADAR,oDIST-oNAGAON,oASSAM,oPIN-781351 VERSUSo THEoSTATEoOFoASSAMoANDo7oORSo REPRESENTEDoBYoTHEoCOMMISSIONERoANDoSECRETARYoTOoTHEo GOVERNMENToOFoASSAM,oHOMEoDEPARTMENT,oDISPUR,oGUWAHATI- 781006 2:THEoDIRECTORoGENERALoOFoPOLICE oASSAM oULUBARI oGUWAHATI-781007 3:THEoDIRECORoOFoPENSION oASSAM oHOUSEFEDoCOMPLEX oCENTRALoBLOCK o6THoFLOOR oBELTOLAoROAD oGUWAHATI-781006 4:THEoPRINCIPALoACCOUNTNAToGENERALo(AoANDoE)oASSAM oMAIDAMGAON oBELTOLA oGUWAHATI oASSAM-781029 5:THEoCOMMANDANT o13oAPoBN Page No.# 2/4 LILABARI UJJAL NAGAR LAKHIMPUR ASSAM-787051 6:THE TREASURY OFFICER DERGAON SUB TREASURY OFFICE DERGAON DIST-GOLAGHAT ASSAM PIN-785703 7:THE TREASURY OFFICER NAGAON TREASURY OFFICE CHRISTIAN PATTY NAGAON DIST-NAGAON ASSAM PIN-782001 8:ANWARA BEGUM W/O JAMSHED ALI R/O VILL- PAKHIMORIA P.O.-NAGAON SADAR P.S.-NAGAON SADAR DIST- NAGAON ASSAM PIN-78200 Advocate for the Petitioner : ALHAJJ I UDDIN Advocate for the Respondent : GA, ASSAM BEFORE HONOURABLE MR. JUSTICE SANJAY KUMAR MEDHI