In an unusual family pension case, the Armed Forces Tribunal (AFT), Chandigarh, directed the authorities to grant ordinary family pension to Satnam Kaur, the second wife of a former army havildar, even after holding that their marriage was legally void under the Hindu Marriage Act.
The couple had no children. However, the tribunal noted that the first wife had consented to the second marriage. On April 13, 1970, Jagat married Satnam while Mohinder was still alive.
Jagat died on February 13, 1998, following which a family pension was granted to Mohinder from February 14, 1998. After Mohinder died on February 9, 2017, the pension stopped. The tribunal accordingly quashed the September 15, 2018, rejection letter and directed the authorities to grant Satnam ordinary family pension from February 10, 2017, with consequential benefits and 6% annual interest.
Referring to Supreme Court precedents, it observed that long and continuous cohabitation as husband and wife can raise a presumption in favour of marriage, although the presumption is rebuttable. The burden, the tribunal noted, lies heavily on the person seeking to deny the relationship its legal character.
