Registered nikahnama not wanted: Gujarat HC orders AMC to pay pension to worker’s second spouse | Ahmedabad Information

Ahmedabad: The Gujarat excessive courtroom has directed the Ahmedabad Municipal Company (AMC) to grant household pension to the second spouse of a deceased worker, rejecting the civic physique’s insistence on a registered nikahnama as proof of marriage. The courtroom relied on proof, together with her upkeep case and an FIR below Part 498A of the IPC with a chargesheet, as conclusive proof of the wedding.In line with the case particulars, Mohammed Hanif Shaikh, who was employed with AMC’s property division, had first married Rehanabanu, with whom he had two youngsters. After Rehanabanu’s dying in July 2007, Shaikh contracted a second marriage in Dec 2007 with Farzanabanu in line with the rituals of Islamic regulation. Shaikh died in 2011, following which Farzanabanu claimed household pension from the AMC. The civic physique denied Farzanabanu’s declare, prompting her to strategy the excessive courtroom in 2016. AMC initially insisted on a succession certificates, however the HC directed the civic physique to determine by inspecting the validity of the wedding. When the AMC denied her declare, she filed a second petition within the HC. Earlier than the courtroom, Farzanabanu produced a nikahnama, an affidavit by the qazi who solemnized the nikah, her upkeep utility within the household courtroom — during which Shaikh had admitted to the wedding — and a prison case she had filed below Part 498A of the IPC, which was abated after Shaikh’s dying, together with its chargesheet. The AMC, nonetheless, maintained that the nikahnama was not registered; that there was no joint {photograph} of the couple; that the worker had not knowledgeable his employer of the second marriage; that her title didn’t seem within the service guide; and that the worker’s relations had not confirmed the second marriage. Shaikh’s two youngsters from his first spouse additionally opposed Farzanabanu’s declare, although that they had beforehand paid her Rs 2 lakh in direction of a settlement from the retiral dues that they had acquired. The AMC continued to insist on a registered nikahnama. Justice M J Shelat discovered AMC’s insistence on proofs resembling {a photograph} and point out in service data to be “unfathomable”. Referring to the upkeep utility and the prison case, the HC noticed: “The company has erroneously ignored such overwhelming documentary proof which, in truth, constitutes materials proof to substantiate petitioner’s declare that she is the legally wedded spouse of the deceased worker.” The HC directed the AMC to deal with Farzanabanu as Shaikh’s legally wedded spouse, put together her household pension papers, and cross an order granting her the pension. The arrears of the household pension had been ordered to be paid by Could 15.