Unmarried sister entitled to family pension, says Allahabad HC

A single-judge bench of Justice Manish Kumar passed the order on a petition filed by Shameen Khan, whose late brother had nominated her for family pension in his service book.

The Lucknow bench of the Allahabad High Court on Wednesday set aside an order denying family pension to the unmarried sister of a deceased government employee, holding that statutory service rules cannot be overridden by a government order.The court also directed the authorities to pay the arrears with 6 per cent annual interest.

Lucknow bench of Allahabad high court

A single-judge bench of Justice Manish Kumar passed the order on a petition filed by Shameen Khan, whose late brother had nominated her for family pension in his service book.

Her claim was rejected on December 5, 2025, on the basis of a government order dated December 23, 2016, which excluded an unmarried sister from the definition of the family of a deceased employee.

During the hearing, the court referred to Rule 3(5) of the Uttar Pradesh Retirement Benefits Rules, 1961, which includes unmarried and widowed sisters in the definition of family. The state government also did not dispute that Khan was the unmarried sister of the deceased employee.

The court observed that statutory service rules framed under Article 309 of the Constitution cannot be amended or rendered ineffective through executive orders or government directives. Any amendment to such rules must follow the prescribed legal procedure, it said.