CHENNAI: The Madras High Court has ruled that a second wife is not eligible for family pension even if the first wife has passed away.

The case concerned M Radhakrishnan, a retired Block Development Officer in Tiruchirappalli district, who retired in 2007. His first wife was R Vasanta. While she was still alive, Radhakrishnan admittedly married a second wife, R Revathi, in 1992 and lived with two wives.

In 2009, he applied to include the names of both wives as nominees in the Pension Payment Order so that both his wives would receive a family pension. The government rejected the request, following which he approached the High Court. During the pendency of the case, Vasanta died in 2020, and it was argued that Revathi should thereafter be brought under the pension scheme.

Accepting this plea, a single judge had earlier directed that the second wife's name be included for pension benefits. Challenging this order, the Tamil Nadu Accountant General (Accounts and Entitlements) filed an appeal.

A Division Bench comprising Justices SM Subramaniam and C Kumarappan set aside the single judge's order, holding that under the Tamil Nadu Government Servants Conduct Rules, contracting a second marriage during the lifetime of the first spouse is a misconduct warranting departmental proceedings and is considered grave misconduct.

The second marriage was solemnised during the lifetime of the first wife. The death of the first wife would not provide a ground to claim family pension by the second wife, since the second marriage is void.

The court ruled that the second wife cannot claim nomination or grant of family pension even after the death of the first wife. Accordingly, the appeal was allowed and the earlier Single Justice order was quashed.