KAVERI S. Vs. DEPUTY INSPECTOR GENERAL OF POLICE

JUDGEMENT

(1.) The petitioner is the legally wedded wife of one Ratheesh, who was employed in the Central Reserve Police Force (C.R.P.F.) as Constable (General Duty). The husband of the petitioner died in an accident on 11.8.2011. Just prior to the accident, the marriage of the petitioner was registered under the Special Marriage Act, as is seen from Ext.P1. It is seen that the marriage itself was registered on 16.6.2011 and the death occurred within two months thereafter on 11.8.2011. The petitioner is also said to have been carrying, at the time of the death of her husband and a child is born to her. The petitioner, by the above writ petition, claims the retirement benefits and pension of the deceased from respondents 1 to 3.

(2.) The learned Central Government Standing Counsel relies on the counter affidavit dated 11.4.2012 to contend that the nomination available in the Service Rules is of his mother Smt.S. Sarojam, who is the 4th respondent Both the petitioner and the 4th respondent has herein. approached the authority for the retirement benefits and the pension. The deceased having neither filed any intimation about his marriage nor filed a proper nomination, the official respondents have a difficulty insofar as the disbursing the retirement benefits, since that would be in supersession of the nomination available in the records, which the employee had given at the time of joining duty.

(3.) It is trite that a nominee does not get a right to the estate of the deceased and in the event of the same being confined to a money claim, the right is only to get disbursement of the same; which the nominee would hold in trust for the other legal heirs. Hence, even if the amounts are disbursed to the 4th respondent, the 4th respondent cannot claim any right, as such, over the entire amounts.