‘Illegal’ second wife, widow deserve equal share in pension: HC

Nagpur: Showing sympathy for second wife or widow, who was “illegally” married to the deceased, the Nagpur bench of Bombay high court has ruled that she deserves equal rights in pension with the first wife. While applauding Indian Railways for framing rules that grant equal share to all widows, the court went on to ask the centre and state why they should not adopt the same course of action.
“Railways must be complimented for making a provision for such widows, who unfortunately fall in the trap of males performing “illegal or void marriage” within the meaning of Section 11 of the Hindu Marriage Act. The railways deserve applaud for incorporating such rule, which is seldom found in service/pension rules of many organizations and the governments,” a division bench comprising justice Arun Chaudhari and justice Pukhraj Bora said.
Upholding an order of the Nagpur Circuit bench of Central Administrative Tribunal’s (CAT), providing equal pension to a second wife of a railway employee, the verdict authored by justice Chaudhari ruled that objective of Rule 75 of ‘Railway Services Pension Rules, 1993’, which deals with ‘Family Pension Scheme for Railway Servants, 1964’, is nothing but to provide relief to such woman who is ensnared in void marriage.
“We find that such an unfortunate woman is provided minimum food and shelter, and that too, not at the cost of railways or the taxpayers, but the pension is equally divided among the widows by virtue of Rule 75. To repeat, provision of Rule 75 is a step in furtherance of the revolution for emancipation of women,” the court said.
The South East Central Railway (SECR) had moved the court challenging CAT’s January 28 decision to grant equal pension to widows of their employee on a plea filed by a Gondia-based second wife. The petitioner contended that the marriage of the second wife or widow was illegal and in violation of the Hindu Marriage Act, since first wife was not divorced.
The judges, while appreciating the petitioners’ contention, said that they can’t be oblivious of what is going on in society. “During subsistence of the first marriage, the husband performs the second by practicing fraud, indulging in cheating with the second woman who is easy prey. Such cases are myriad, but since the parties are Hindus, the Act holds such marriages void. Whether a second wife or widow, after the death of husband, should be left to starve by giving all the pensionary and terminal benefits to first wife only?” the court tersely asked.
The court added that the question will have to be answered with all seriousness and in the light of the revolution for emancipation of women. Quoting Rule 75, the court said, its provisions can’t be held to be in conflict or interdiction with the Hindu Marriage Act.
“On the contrary, for achieving the constitutional goal, even for the unfortunate second wife or widow, Rule 75 provides for grant of pension to her for survival. By its virtue, the pension is required to be paid in equal share, which clearly shows that there is no burden on the treasury or the railways by inserting the noble idea. We, therefore, hold that Rule 75 has been enacted in consonance with the constitutional provision,” the court ruled while dismissing the plea and asking the centre and states to adopt similar provisions for providing justice to second wives or widows.