Dependent parents of deceased govt employee entitled to family pension: HC

In their petition, Vasantrao Deshmukh, 75, and his wife Snehalata, 75, claimed they were denied family pension after their unmarried son died due to a snake bite while working at a tribal school in October 2008

MUMBAI: The dependent parents of a deceased, unmarried government employee are entitled to family pension, the Bombay high court has ruled.

Mumbai, India - September 03, 2021: Bombay High Court at Fort, in Mumbai, India, on Friday, September 03, 2021. (Photo by Anshuman Poyrekar/Hindustan Times) (Anshuman Poyrekar/HT PHOTO)

“We sincerely believe that if dependent parents have to keep their mind, body and soul together, law must ensure that they receive pension for sustenance,” said a division bench of justices Ravindra Ghuge and Ashwin Bhobe, while directing the Maharashtra government to clear the family pension proposal of a septuagenarian couple from Akola, who lost their son in 2008.

In their petition, Vasantrao Deshmukh, 75, and his wife Snehalata, 75, claimed they were denied family pension after their unmarried son died due to a snake bite while working at a tribal school in October 2008.

Two years later, in September 2010, the petitioners approached the project officer of the local Integrated Tribal Development Project (ITDP) for family pension. ITDPs are designated areas where tribal people make up 50% or more of the total population.

However, in November 2010, the authorities informed the petitioners that the biological parents of a deceased state government employee are not eligible for family pension. This prompted the couple to approach the high court.

The advocates for the petitioners pointed out a government resolution (GR) dated January 22, 2015, issued by the state finance department, which said that family pension should be granted to “wholly dependent parents of a deceased single government servant”.

The state government, however, opposed the petition, contending that the biological parents of a deceased single government employee are not covered under the definition of family under the Maharashtra Civil Services (Pension) Rules, 1982. It added that the January 2015 GR could not be applied retrospectively to the case.

After hearing both sides, the bench ruled that the couple was eligible to receive family pension, saying the GR was issued with a laudable objective to achieve social security for helpless aged parents. It added that the GR should be made applicable at least to the dependent parent/s surviving on the date of the GR, even if their single child died prior to its issuance.

The court directed the state government to approve the petitioner’s proposal, pay the arrears due and start paying them a regular pension from July 2025.