Patna: While upholding the constitutional rights and dignity of disabled people, the Patna high court has passed a significant verdict allowing a pensioner to nominate his or her disabled offspring to receive pensionary benefits as a dependent during the parent’s lifetime. The verdict, passed on Aug 10 and uploaded to the court’s website on Thursday night, takes exception to prevailing state govt rules and a circular under which disabled wards can avail family pension as dependents only after the death of their parents.A single bench of justice Purnendu Singh, while disposing of a writ petition filed by Ramanand Ray, a retired peon who sought permission to nominate his son, who has 50% locomotor disability, for his pensionary benefits, directed the authorities to include his disabled son’s name in the pension files of the petitioner.The pension authorities had rejected Ramanand’s request, referring to a state finance department letter under which a disabled child could claim family pension only after the demise of both the mother and father of the disabled claimant.Slamming the “inhuman and insipid” approach of the state authorities, justice Singh said denying pensionary benefits to a disabled offspring during the lifetime of his or her retired parent amounts to “crushing the soul of concerned laws of disability in India”.The court’s verdict has challenged the existing approach under which disabled dependents are required to wait until the death of both parents to access family pension benefits. It also places emphasis on the need to interpret pension rules in a manner consistent with the constitutional rights and dignity of persons with disabilities.The verdict is expected to serve as a significant precedent for ageing caregivers seeking long-term legal and financial security for their disabled dependents.
