AT gives relief to widow, asks DTC to grant family pension

The Central Administrative Tribunal (CAT) has come to the rescue of a widow by granting her family pension after noting that she was pursuing the matter relentlessly with the Delhi Transport Corporation (DTC) after her husband died in 2005.

A tribunal bench, comprising vice-chairman M Ramachandran and member Shailendra Pandey, passed the order giving relief to the widow of Kalanath Sharma, who resigned from the corporation in 1990 but applied for pensionary benefit after the scheme came into force in 1992.

The DTC started the pension scheme for its employees in 1992 and there was a provision that those who retired after 1981 were eligible to opt for either pensionary benefit or PF. Kalanath had opted for pension.

The tribunal said that it was proved that the deceased had been pursuing the matter related to his pension continuously with the DTC and had even offered to return the contributory provident fund (CPF) to the corporation.

"There are circumstances sufficient to reveal that there was a conscious effort on the part of the employee concerned to claim his benefits. He had offered to pay back CPF benefits received. This supports our view that what was being pursued was not an empty claim," the CAT said.

The tribunal ordered DTC to treat Kalanath as a person who had opted for pension after his resignation, when the scheme had been brought into force.

Earlier, the corporation repudiated the claim of widow, saying that there was a difference between a retired employee and one who resigned from the post and thus Kalanath was not eligible for any pensionary benefit.