Widow of retired military man to get double pension

Wife of a retired military man is all set to get double pension, thanks to the Madras High Court, which held that receiving pension from the military was not a bar for her to receive pension from the Fire and Rescue services department.
Her husband, after retiring voluntarily from the Military service, worked in the Fire and Rescue services department for 17 years and died while in service due to snakebite.
Allowing a petition from K Gunasundari, Justice R Subbiah said the petitioner was eligible to get Dearness Allowance only for one pension (either for Military family pension or for family pension from Fire and Rescue services department) and directed the Fire and Rescue services department to sanction and release family pension with arrears to her within 8 weeks and continue to pay the family pension so long as she was eligible to get family pension.

Her counsel Mohamed Ismail submitted that petitioner's husband R Kesavan joined the military and after putting pensionable service. He voluntarily retired from the service in 1989.
In 1992, he joined the Tamil Nadu Fire and Rescue services department as Firemen. On March 19, 2009, while he was in service, he died due to snakebite, leaving behind the petitioner and three children. She was getting pension from the military department.
Since her husband had completed 17 years of service and died while in service, she sought family pension from the Fire and Rescue services department. But, the department turned down her request on the ground that she was not entitled to family pension since she receives pension from the military.

The department however directed her to produce a certificate to the effect that she was not receiving any family pension from the military service and she would not be given any family pension in future from military.

She replied that she was receiving family pension from the military for the services rendered by her husband and it will not be a bar for getting family pension from the department and requested the department to sanction pension. But, the department refused to sanction pension to her.
Citing a judgment of the Madras High Court itself on a similar issue, the judge said the dictum laid down in the said judgment was squarely applicable to the present facts of the case also.

"In view of the said judgment, I am of the opinion that receiving pension from military is not a bar for the petitioner to receive pension from the Fire and Rescue services department", the judge said and directed the department to pay family pension to her.