KOCHI: The Kerala High Court has held that a divorced daughter is entitled to the continuation of a family pension if her marriage was dissolved through a registered customary divorce deed during the lifetime of her parents, even if a formal court decree of divorce was obtained only after their death.
A Division Bench comprising Justice S Manu and Justice Muralee Krishna S passed the order while dismissing a petition filed by the Union government challenging the decision of the Armed Forces Tribunal, Regional Bench, Kochi, which had directed the authorities to pay family pension to the divorced daughter of a deceased Army pensioner.
The father of Saraswati, a native of Eruvatti in Kannur district, served in the Indian Army as a Lance Havildar/Naik. As he suffered from severe cardiac ailments, he was granted a disability pension. Following his death in 1989, his wife received the family pension until her death in 2015.