CHENNAI: A division bench of Madras High Court has held that the second wife of a government servant cannot claim family pension even if the first wife is no more because the second marriage, while the first wife is alive, is not lawful.
The matter pertains to appeals filed by the Accountant General of Tamil Nadu against a single judge’s order directing inclusion of the name of the second wife as nominee of M Radhakrishnan, who retired as block development officer, for pension.
Radhakrishnan had married R Revathy even when his first wife, R Vasantha, was alive. When both wives were alive, he applied to include both of them as nominee for family pension but it was rejected. Then, after the first wife’s death, an application was submitted to the authorities concerned for making the second wife his nominee but it was not accepted. So, a writ petition was filed in the high court. A single judge, in 2021, ordered inclusion of the second wife as nominee. This order was challenged.
The bench comprising justices SM Subramaniam and C Kumarappan said the writ court has not considered the relevant rules under the Tamil Nadu Pension Rules 1978 which is to be followed for grant of pension and family pension and the eligibility is of ‘paramount importance’.
“The facts regarding the second marriage during the lifetime of the first wife are not disputed. Thus, the second marriage is null and void,” the bench said.
It noted that even when the first wife was alive, an application for inclusion of both the wives in the pension payment order was given but was rejected by the Accountant General of Tamil Nadu, it recalled.
“The Tamil Nadu Government Servants Conduct Rules prohibits contracting of second marriage by the government employee during the lifetime of the first spouse. Contracting a second marriage during the lifetime of the first spouse is a misconduct warranting departmental proceedings which is considered as a grave misconduct under the Conduct Rules,” the bench pointed out.