Pet it ioner v. St at e of Ut t arakhand ot hers

: Mr. Prabhakar Narayan and Mr. Dheeraj Joshi, learned counsel Counsel for t he respondent s : Mr. S.S. St anding Counsel respondent s Chaudhary, t he St at e learned / Th e Co u r t m a d e t h e f o l l o w i n g : JUD GM EN T: ( p e r H o n ’ b l e Th e Ch i e f Ju st i ce Sr i G. N a r e n d a r ) Heard t he learned counsel for t he pet it ioner and t he learned St anding Counsel for t he respondent / St at e. 2) The case of t he pet it ioner is t hat she is t he wife of lat e Raj endra Narayan, r/ o Haripur Gangu, Chaufla Chauraha, Dam uadhunga, Dist rict Nainit al, who was 1 em ployed under t he first respondent in t he Public Works Depart m ent as an Assist ant Engineer and dem it t ed office on reaching t he age of superannuat ion on 31.12.2018. That ret irem ent benefit s were ext ended t o t he lat e husband, and on 26.06.2024, t he lat e husband unfort unat ely left for his heavenly abode leaving behind t he pet it ioner, m arried daught er, son and daught er- in- law. Copy of t he deat h cert ificat e is produced as Annexure- 2. That aft er t he dem ise of lat e husband, t he pet it ioner approached t he depart m ent for release of fam ily pension in her favour which is in accordance wit h t he rules. That her represent at ion was responded t o by t he depart m ent al aut horit ies st at ing t hat since t he nam e of t he wife has been declared by her lat e husband as Sm t . Nirm ala Devi and she described herself as Sm t . Neem a Devi, t he pensionary benefit s cannot be released in her favour. 3) I t is t he case of t he pet it ioner t hat her nam e has all along been Sm t . Neem a Devi and is also regist ered as such in t he Aadhaar Card, PAN Card, Fam ily Regist er, Bank account passbook et c., copies of which are produced as Annexure- 4. The pet it ioner sought for rect ificat ion of t he nam e by represent at ion dat ed 29.08.2024, copy of which is produced as Annexure- 5. That despit e t he 2 represent at ion t he respondent s have not considered t he sam e nor disposed it off. 4) The learned St anding Counsel for t he respondent - St at e would reit erat e t he sam e. He would subm it t hat t he pension papers were processed in all earnest ness and m at t er was sent t o t he t hird respondent , and t hat t he t hird respondent aft er not icing t he difference in t he nam es has been pleased t o ret urn t he sam e. That in view of t he obj ect ion raised by t he pension aut horit ies t he hands of t he first respondent and t he second respondent are t ied down. 5) Having heard t he counsels, we are of t he considered opinion t hat t he inst ant pet it ion could be disposed of by grant ing libert y t o t he pet it ioner t o approach t he civil court and seek a relief of declarat ion t o declare her as t he legally wedded wife of lat e Raj endra Narayan. I n t he event such a suit is inst it ut ed by t he pet it ioner, t he said suit shall be heard and disposed of wit hin a period of 18 m ont hs. We specify t he t im e lim it of 12 m ont hs in view of t he sensit ivit y of t he issue involved and t he im pact on t he life of t he pet it ioner. The pet it ioner is aged 77 years and t he fam ily pension is t he source of her livelihood, hence t he direct ion t o t he court t o consider and dispose of t he suit wit hin t he upper lim it of 12 m ont hs from t he dat e of 3 filing of t he suit . I t is m ade clear t he Trial Court shall not seek any ext ensions and shall also not grant any unnecessary adj ournm ent s. The part ies shall co- operat e for early disposal of t he suit . 6) The writ pet it ion st ands ordered accordingly. 7) As a sequel t heret o, pending applicat ion, if any, shall st and closed. ________________ G. N A REN D A R, C.J. _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ A LOK M A H RA , J. Dt : 05 TH JUNE, 2025 Negi HIMANS HU NEGI DN: c=IN, o=HIGH COURT OF UTTARAKHAND, ou=HIGH COURT OF UTTARAKHAND, 2.5.4.20=bb3b60774012c1ef1dae20d13 aaf116e73351fdaf6878326386908a7f90 d5757, postalCode=263001, st=UTTARAKHAND, serialNumber=75BD9D0FB7F4A80990F C51A722A6BC552D470EB4FD2F88DDF 7C18DB2A1524A4D, cn=HIMANSHU NEGI 4