HC: Govt staffer’s widow to get family pension even if she weds hubby’s bro

Chandigarh: The Punjab and Haryana high court has made it clear that the widow of a former civilian employee of the military would be entitled to an ordinary family pension if she marries her husband’s brother and continues to live a communal life and contributes to the support of other living eligible heirs.
The HC also clarified that there must not be any distinction between a widow of a person who died because of reasons attributable to or aggravated by military service and a person who died in service, since the problems faced by the widows are identical.This undoubtedly applies even in the instant case if we substitute the word ‘government service’ for the word ‘military service,’ said a division bench, comprising Justice M S Ramachandra Rao and Justice Sukhvinder Kaur. The bench passed these orders while allowing a plea filed by Sukhjeet Kaur, a resident of Fatehgarh Sahib in Punjab.