19/06/2026
The Punjab and Haryana High Court has delivered a landmark judgment clarifying pensionary rights, ruling that the second wife of a deceased government employee is legally entitled to 100 per cent family pension if she is the sole surviving and eligible claimant. Allowing a petition filed by the widow of a retired District Treasury Officer from Gurdaspur, Justice Namit Kumar set aside a state administrative communication dated May 25, 2022, and a 2006 Finance Department clarification that had restricted her entitlement to just 50 per cent of the pensionary benefits on the sole ground of her being the "second wife." The undisputed facts of the case revealed that the employee retired in 1996, his first wife passed away in 1980, and he subsequently married the petitioner in 1992 before his demise in November 2011. Following his death, the Accountant General (A&E), Punjab, slashed her pension allocation by half, citing Note 1 and Note 2 under Rule 6.17(4) of the Punjab Civil Services Rules, Volume II.
Dismantling the state's arguments, Justice Namit Kumar observed that the restrictive provisions relied upon by the authorities apply strictly to scenarios where an employee is survived by multiple widows or eligible minor children from the first marriage who require apportionment of funds. Since the petitioner was the singular surviving widow at the time of the employee's death, and there were no minor children from the first wedlock, the court ruled that denying her the full amount would lead to an absurd and unjust consequence where a portion of the family pension would remain withheld by the state despite the presence of a legitimate beneficiary. Terming such an interpretation completely contrary to the welfare spirit of the Family Pension Scheme, the High Court directed the state to release the full 100 per cent pension backdated to November 14, 2011, along with arrears compiled at an interest rate of 6 per cent per annum within three months.
