Army jawan’s second wife to get pension

Chennai: The regional bench of the armed forces tribunal, Chennai, has directed the ministry of defence and Indian Army to provide a pension to the second wife of a deceased soldier. See­king a decree of divorce between the first wife and the soldier, the Army refused to consider the plea of the second wife for three years.

G. Jagannadha Rao of East Godavari district, Andh­ra Pradesh, joined the Army in July 1974. He was married to Giri Kumari. He retired from the Army as a Naik in July 1989. On July 11, 1982, the couple took a customary divorce by means of a mutual agreement in accordance with customs prevalent in the village and in the presence of elders.

Following the divorce, Giri Kumari remarried Sivakoti in September 1982 and settled in UAE. Rao married Mary Bharathi in 1989. The couple was blessed with a child, Huldha Sumala, in 2000.

Three months after executing a will in favour of Bharathi, Rao passed away in May 2010. The authorities denied pension to Bharathi on the grounds that the decree of divorce from the court relating to termination of the marriage was not furnished to the authorities.

Based on Bharathi’s petition, the revenue officials and officials in the pension adalat in 2011 had recommended to the Army Air defence records to make the necessary changes in Rao’s personal records and consider Bharathi’s plea. She filed the petition before the tribunal since their commendations yielded no result.

Giri Kumari submitted a document on the termination of her marriage with Rao and requested that her name be removed from Rao’s personal records as she had re-married.

The bench, comprising judicial member, Justice V. Periya Karuppiah, and administrative member Lt General Anand Mohan Verma, held that Bharathi emerged as heir testamentary and directed the ministry of defence and Army to grant her a family pension with retrospective effect from May 2010.