Smt. Madhabi Bala Debi Nath v. The State of Assam and 6 Ors

ORDER

28.08.2023 Heard Mr. S Islam, learned counsel for the petitioner and Ms. S Ahmed, learned Standing counsel, Public Health Engineering Department, Assam for the respondent Nos. 1 to

¶3Also heard Mr. D Rabha, learned Standing counsel, Accountant General (A&E), Assam for the respondent No. 4; Mr. B Gogoi, learned Standing counsel, Finance Department, Assam for the respondent No. 5 as well as Mr. M Kalita, learned counsel appearing on behalf of the respondent Nos. 6 & 7.

¶2The husband of the petitioner, namely, Sanjit Kumar Nath, an employee of the Public Health Engineering Department retired from service on 31.01.2022 on attaining the age of superannuation at 60 years as a Plumber under the Executive Engineer, PHE, Dhubri Division, Dhubri.

¶3The respondent No. 6 married the petitioner on 06.08.1983. Page No.# 3/4

¶4The petitioner has alleged that the respondent No. 6, while in service, without dissolving the marriage with her, married the respondent No. 7.

¶5The petitioner has also stated that at the time of retirement, the respondent No. 6 received a large amount from his employer, but he did not share any part of it with the petitioner.

¶6The petitioner is aggrieved as the respondent No. 6 is contemplating to incorporate the name of the respondent No. 7 in his Service Book as his nominee, entitling the said respondent No. 7 for the family pension of the respondent No. 6, disregarding her better claim being the first wife of the said respondent No. 6.

¶7As such, the petitioner has preferred this writ petition, praying amongst others, for a direction to the respondent No. 6 as well as the authorities in the PHE Department of the State to incorporate her name in the Service Book of the respondent No. 6 as his wife and further, for a direction to the respondents, including the respondent No. 6 to release 50% of the retirement benefits given to the respondent No. 6/her husband, in her favour.

¶8By filing an affidavit on 23.06.2023, the respondent No. 6 placed before the Court that pursuant to the order of the learned Principal Judge, Family Court, Dhubri dated

06.04.2022 passed in F.C. (Crl) No. 35/2020 for maintenance under Section 125 CrPC as claimed by the petitioner, he is paying Rs. 10,000/- per month to the petitioner as maintenance in terms of the said order dated 06.04.2022 of the learned Principal Judge, Family Court, Dhubri.

¶9Further, the respondent No. 6 also stated that he has no objection if the name of the petitioner is incorporated as his nominee in his Service Book by the respondent authorities in the PHE Department, enabling her to get the family pension after his expiry.

¶10It is also stated by the respondent No. 6 that there is no provision under the Assam Services (Pension) Rules, 1969 to share the pensionary benefits by a retired Government employee/pensioner with his wife.

¶11As per the provisions of the Assam Services (Pension) Rules, 1969, family pension is granted to the family of an officer, who dies in service or dies after retirement, where family for the said purpose is defined in Sub-Rule (1) (a) of Rule 136 of said 1969 Rules. Page No.# 4/4

¶12As such, the petitioner will be entitled for family pension of her husband, Sanjit Kumar Nath, only after his demise.

¶13In view of the statement of the respondent No. 6 made in his affidavit, noted above, the respondent No. 6 shall do the needful nominating the name of the petitioner, Madhabi Bala Devi Nath as his wife in his Service Book and intimating the Executive Engineer, PHE Department, Dhubri Division, Dhubri to incorporate the name of the petitioner in that regard, enabling her to draw the family pension after the demise of the respondent No. 6.

¶14However, the petitioner is not entitled to any other share of pensionary benefits of the respondent No. 6 during his lifetime as per the provisions of said 1969 Pension Rules.

¶15After hearing the learned counsels for the parties and considering the above as well as the statements made by the respondent No. 6 in his affidavit filed on 23.06.2023, this writ petition is allowed to the extent above.

JUDGE Comparing Assistant

PageoNo.#o1/4 GAHC010090942022 ooooooo ooooooooooooooo ooooooooooooooooTHEoGAUHATIoHIGHoCOURTo (HIGHoCOURToOFoASSAM,oNAGALAND,oMIZORAMoANDoARUNACHALoPRADESH)o CaseoNo.o:oWP(C)/3165/2022o SMT.oMADHABIoBALAoDEBIoNATHo W/O-oSANJIToKR.oNATH,oR/O-oJHAGRARPARoPART-III,oP.O.-oJHAGRARPAR,o DIST.-oDHUBRI,oASSAM. VERSUSo THEoSTATEoOFoASSAMoANDo6oORS.o REP.oBYoTHEoCOMM.oANDoSECY.oTOoTHEoGOVT.oOFoASSAM,oP.H.E.oDEPTT.,o DISPUR,oGHY.-06. 2:THEoCHIEFoENGINEER oPUBLICoHEALTHoENGINEERINGo(PHE)oDEPTT. oHENGRABARI oHEALTHoCOMPLEXoHENGRABARI oGHY.-o36. 3:THEoEXECUTIVEoENGINEER oPHE oDHUBRIoDIVISION oDHUBRI oP.O.oANDoDIST.-oDHUBRI oASSAM oPIN-o783301. 4:THEoACCOUNTANToGENERAL oASSAM oMAIDAMGAON oBELTOLA oGHY.-o781029. 5:THEoSECRETARYoTOoTHEoGOVT.oOFoASSAM Page No.# 2/4 FINANCE DEPTT. DISPUR GHY.- 781006. 6:SANJIT KR. NATH S/O- RAJ KANTA NATH R/O- JHAGRARPAR PART-III P.O. JHAGRARPAR DIST.- DHUBRI ASSAM. PIN- 783325. 7:DIPALI NATH W/O- SANJIT KR. NATH R/O- JHAGRARPAR PART-III P.O.- JHAGRARPAR DIST.- DHUBRI ASSAM. PIN- 783325 Advocate for the Petitioner : MR. S ISLAM Advocate for the Respondent : SC, P H E BEFORE HONOURABLE MR. JUSTICE MANASH RANJAN PATHAK