Divorced daughter not entitled to family pension if divorce occurs after parent’s death: Tripura High Court

The Tripura High Court recently ruled that a daughter, who gets divorced after the death of her pensioner-father, is not entitled to the family pension..Justice S Datta Purkayastha held that eligibility for family pension must exist at the time of the pensioner’s death as required under Rule 8 of the Tripura State Civil Services (Revised Pension) Rules, 2017.The Court explained that the rules allow family pension only to certain categories of daughters, such as unmarried, widowed or divorced daughters.In the present case, the Court found that at the time of her father’s death, the petitioner was a married daughter separated from her husband and not a divorcee and therefore, did not fall within the eligible category.“Already it is discussed in the earlier paragraph that at the time of the death of the father of the petitioner, her status was not of a divorced daughter, but rather of a married daughter separated from her husband and dependent on her father,” the Court said.It further held that the said Rules do not cover such a case and noted that there was no challenge to the Rules on the ground of arbitrariness or discrimination.The Court further went on to emphasise the limits of judicial interpretation."The Court under Art. 226 cannot rewrite a Rule by stretch of interpretation. This also cannot be treated as a case of discrimination amongst one homogenous class of people, as only some specified categories of married daughters are entitled to get the benefit of family pension and not all,” the Court added..The Court was dealing with a plea filed by a woman who had separated from her husband but was not divorced and had sought a family pension after her father’s death.Her father, a labourer with the Agartala Municipal Corporation, had retired and was receiving a pension. He passed away on December 2, 2018.The petitioner told the High Court that her husband had left her shortly after marriage, and that she had been living with her father for more than 40 years and was fully dependent on him.She later obtained a divorce in October 2021 and then applied for a family pension in 2022.However, her claim was rejected by the municipal authorities in October 2024, prompting her to move to the High Court..The High Court noted that although the petitioner was dependent on her father, her status at the time of his death remained that of a married daughter separated from her husband and not a divorced daughter."It appears that after a few days of her marriage, her husband left her in her father’s house and did not take her back again. She thus became dependent on her father but such dependency ceased to exist immediately on the death of her father and at that time, her status was of a ‘married daughter separated from her husband’ and not a divorced daughter," the judgment stated.The Rules do not permit grant of family pension to the said category of married daughters, the Court added.It thus held that her claim could not be allowed and dismissed the case..Senior Advocate P Roy Barman along with Advocate Samarjit Bhattacharjee appeared for the petitioner.Advocate Arijit Bhaumik appeared for the respondents..[Read Judgment]