States » NorthPosted at: Jun 17 2025 5:20PM


Soldier's mother eligible for pension after remarriage of widow: HP HC

Shimla, June 17 (UNI) The Himachal Pradesh High court turned down an impugned court order which deprived the petitioner (who is mother of a deceased Border Security Force solider) of her benefit of family pension following the remarriage of her daughter in law.
In a significant ruling, the High Court of Himachal Pradesh has directed the Union of India to grant family pension to an 83-year-old mother of a deceased Border Security Force (BSF) soldier, setting aside a decades-old rejection order.
The court held that parents become entitled to pension when the widow remarries, dismissing the government's plea of excessive delay in filing the case.
Justice Sandeep Sharma delivered the verdict on a petition filed by Shankari Devi and her late husband, Sita Ram (whose name was deleted posthumously during proceedings). They challenged a 1999 order by the BSF's Pay and Accounts Division that denied them family pension after their daughter-in-law, Suraksha Devi, remarried in 1990.
The petitioners' son, Lekh Ram (Service No. 79555014LAC), joined the BSF in 1979 but died under mysterious circumstances just ten days after his marriage to Suraksha Devi in 1985. Suraksha Devi initially received family pension (PPO No. 17868) but ceased drawing it after her remarriage on December 12, 1990, as confirmed by her own communication to the BSF in April 2024.
The BSF authorities had consistently rejected Shankari Devi's subsequent claims, arguing that parents weren't eligible and that the petition, filed 24 years after the 1999 rejection order, suffered from fatal delay and laches.
Justice Sharma, however, emphatically applied Rule 50(10)(a) of the CCS (Pension) Rules. The rule states that if a widow becomes ineligible for family pension (in this case, due to remarriage), the pension becomes payable to the deceased employee's dependent parents for life.
"The aforesaid rules clearly provide that once widow becomes ineligible for family pension, family pension... shall be paid to the parents for life subject to their proving that they were dependent upon the government servant... immediately before his/her death," the court observed, finding the 1999 rejection order unsustainable.
Regarding the 24-year delay, the court invoked the principle of "continuing wrong", noting that the denial of pension caused recurring injury to the elderly petitioner. "Since petitioner on account of non-authorization of family pension in her favour is suffering continuously... this court is not persuaded to accept the plea of delay and laches," Justice Sharma stated, relying on precedents dealing with belated service claims.

The court quashed the BSF's 1999 rejection order and directed the Union of India to consider Shankari Devi's claim for family pension under Rule 50(10)(a) within six weeks, specifically assessing her dependency on her son.

If found eligible, she would receive arrears limited to three years prior to the filing of the petition (2023). Compliance must be reported to the court by July 22, 2025.
The ruling underscores the entitlement of dependent parents to family pension following a widow's remarriage and provides crucial relief to an octogenarian mother after a 35-year-long legal struggle stemming from her son's tragic death.
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