Latest news with #TamilNaduPensionRules
New Indian Express
10 hours ago
- Politics
- New Indian Express
Medical certificate enough for disabled to get family pension: Madurai bench of Madras HC
MADURAI: The Madurai Bench of Madras High Court has observed that pensioners' children, who suffer intellectual disability, should be given family pension on submission of medical certificate evidencing his or her incapacity to earn livelihood on their own, without insisting on certificate denoting income from all sources. A bench of justices GR Swaminathan and K Rajasekar made the observation recently while hearing an appeal filed by the principal accountant general of Tamil Nadu against an order passed by the court directing payment of family pension to the intellectually challenged son of a forester. While hearing the appeal, the judges said though the order had been complied with in this case, the daughter of a late judge with similar difficulties was not lucky and expressed anguish over the delay. The judges recalled that the widow of former acting Chief Justice of Madras High Court TS Arunachalam received pension since 2020. After her death in June 2024, their younger daughter filed an application seeking family pension for her sister, who has physical and intellectual disability. After submission of all documents, the accountant general's (AG's) office forwarded it to the Union Ministry of Law and Justice to obtain sanction from the President of India. Later, the AG's office forwarded a letter from the Government of India seeking the very same set of documents and the matter is pending at this stage, the judges noted. Expressing anguish over her struggle in getting pension, the judges called upon the Registrar General of Madras High Court to liaison with the authorities concerned and ensure that she gets family pension at the earliest. They pointed out that both the Central Civil Services (Pension) Rules and the Tamil Nadu Pension Rules make it clear that the son or daughter suffering from disorder or disability of mind, which prevents him or her from earning livelihood, will be entitled to family pension for life after the demise of the parents, upon production of a medical certificate proving the disability. When the statutory rule doesn't mention requirement of any other document, the authority cannot ask for anything more, the judges added. This issue was settled by the Supreme Court three decades ago and the said decision has been consistently followed.
The Hindu
a day ago
- Politics
- The Hindu
Madras High Court Bench asks Registrar General to ensure former ACJ's daughter gets family pension
Pension has always been characterised as a matter of right and not charity or bounty. When it comes to extending the benefit to persons with intellectual disability, the authority must exhibit alacrity, the Madurai Bench of the Madras High Court has observed. A Division Bench of Justices G.R. Swaminathan and K. Rajasekar held that the son/daughter of a pensioner who was a person with intellectual disability and fell within the scope of the pension rules should be disbursed with family pension on submission of a medical certificate evidencing his/her incapacity to earn livelihood without insisting on certificate denoting income from all sources. The sanction order should be passed without delay after documents mentioned in the statutory rules were submitted, the court observed while hearing the appeal preferred by the Principal Accountant General (A&E) against a Single Bench order, directing payment of family pension to a person with intellectual disability who was the son of a deceased government employee. The court was told that the order had been complied with. However, the appellant wanted certain strong remarks to be expunged, and the court expunged them. The court observed that at this juncture it was reminded of the daughter of one of the distinguished judges of the HC, who retired as its Acting Chief Justice. It was agonising to note that his daughter, a person with physical and intellectual disability, had not been sanctioned family pension even though more than a year had passed since her mother's demise. Her father passed away in 2020 and mother in 2024. Application for sanctioning family pension was submitted. The office of the appellant sought certain details and documents. It was furnished by her younger sister, the legal guardian. The admissibility report for family pension was forwarded to the Secretary of Ministry of Law and Justice (Department of Justice) to obtain sanction from the President of India. Subsequently, a letter sought submission of the same set of documents, and the matter lay there, the court observed. 'We call upon the Registrar General of the Madras HC to liaison with the authorities concerned and ensure that the daughter of the former ACJ gets her family pension at the earliest,' the court directed. Referring to Rule 54(6) of CCS (Pension) Rules and Rule 49(6) of the Tamil Nadu Pension Rules, the court said a medical officer not below the rank of a civil surgeon must give a certificate setting out the mental or physical condition of the child. Nowhere was there any requirement to produce an income certificate noting income from all sources. In the present case, the appellant had insisted on furnishing such a certificate, the court observed. When the statutory rule itself contemplated certificates only from a Doctor/Medical Board stating that the son/daughter of a deceased employee by virtue of physical or intellectual disability could not earn a livelihood, the authority could not ask for anything more, the court observed.
