APHC010604122025 IN THE HIGH COURT OF ANDHRA PRADESH AT AMARAVATI (Special Original Jurisdiction) WEDNESDAY, THE 30th DAY OF SEPTEMBER 2026 PRESENT THE HONOURABLE SRI JUSTICE NYAPATHY VIJAY WRIT PETITION NO: 31470 OF 2025 Between: 1. PULAPAKA SUBBA LAKSHMI, W/o Late Sri Peddi Raju, D/o Late Sri G. Subba Rao, Age 53 years, Occ House Wife, R/o. Door No. 18-4-74/48, Ayodhyaramapuram, Samalkot - 533 439, Kakinada District ...Petitioner AND 1. THE STATE OF ANDHRA PRADESH, Rep. by its PrI. Secretary Home (Gen.) Department, A.P. Secretariat, Velagapudi - 522 237, Amaravathi, Guntur District 2. The Accountant General A and E, 27, M.G.Road, Governor Peta, Vijayawada - 520 002 3. The District Audit Officer, State Audit, Eluru District at Eluru - 534 001 4. The District Treasury and Accounts Officer, Bhimavaram - 534 201, West Godavari District 5. The Commandant, 3rd Battalian, APSP Kakinada - 533 005, Kakinada District ...Respondents Petition under Article 226 of the Constitution of India praying that in the circumstances stated in the affidavit filed therewith, the High Court may be pleased to issue a writ order or direction more particularly one in the nature of Writ of Mandamus declaring the endorsement bearing C.No.38/A3/1990-2024, dated 01-02-2025 issued by the 5th respondent whereby and where under the representation of the petitioner for sanction of family pension is rejected consequent on the return of Family Pension proposal of the petitioner by the 4th respondent as illegal, arbitrary and unjust and consequently direct the 2 respondents to sanction the Family Pension to the petitioner forthwith by considering her case positively and pass IA NO: 1 OF 2025 Petition under Section 151 CPC praying that in the circumstances stated in the affidavit filed in support of the petition, the High Court may be pleased to direct the respondents to reconsider the Family Pension proposal relating to the petitioner forthwith as per the proposals submitted to the 3rd and 4th respondents by the 5th respondent, pending disposal of the present writ petition and pass Counsel for the Petitioner: N SIVA REDDY Counsel for the Respondents: GP FOR SERVICES I The Court made the following order: 3 HON’BLE SRI JUSTICE NYAPATHY VIJAY W.P.No. 31470 OF 2025 O R D E R: This writ petition is filed questioning the endorsement C.No.38/A3/1990- 2024, dated 01.02.2025 issued by the Respondent No.5 rejecting the claim of the Petitioner for grant of family pension as illegal and arbitrary. 2. 2. Petitioner is the daughter of Late Sri Goraparthi Subba Rao, who worked as Police Constable in A.P. Special Police III Battalion, Kakinada. Father of the Petitioner initially married one Smt. Suryakantham in the year 1960 and as she left the company of her father on account of her ill health, he married mother of the Petitioner Smt. G. Ammaji. Father of the Petitioner was retired from service on 31.12.1990 and after his retirement, he got pension and died on 27.11.2015 in Chinthayagudem. The name of the mother of the Petitioner is referred to in the Service Register as nominee. Mother of the Petitioner i.e., Nominee had pre-deceased her father on 12.01.1995. 3. Petitioner was married to one Pulapaka Peddi Raju of Vellamilli Village, Ungutur Mandal of West Godavari District and the said individual died on 16.08.2015 just before three (3) months to the death of her father. It is stated that as the Petitioner has no source of income, she seeks for sanction of family pension as provided in A.P. Revised Pension Rules, 1980 as amended vide G.O.Ms.No.315 Finance (Pen.I) Department, dated 07.10.2010. The said claim of the Petitioner was rejected vide impugned proceedings dated 01.02.2025 by District Officer, Eluru and District Treasury Officer, Bhimavaram 4 on the ground that no family pension was authorized in the PPO of Service Pensioner even though his wife Ammaji was alive, and there is a maintenance case filed before the learned II Addl. Judicial First Class Magistrate, Eluru by Smt. G. Suryakanthamma i.e., 1st wife of the father of Petitioner. As the marriage of the Petitioner to the mother of the Petitioner without submitting any legal advice, the proposals were rejected. Hence, the writ petition. 4. In the counter affidavit filed by the Respondent, it is stated that the first wife of the father of the Petitioner i.e., Suryakanthamma did not consent to the second marriage and had filed a complaint apart from maintenance case before II Addl. Judicial First Class Magistrate, Eluru, vide M.C.No.40/1990. It is further stated that the whereabouts of the first wife and her children are not known and the name of the mother of the Petitioner is only mentioned in pension forms. 5. Heard Sri N. Siva Reddy, learned counsel for Petitioner and Government Pleader for Services-I for the Respondents. 6. The name of the mother of the Petitioner i.e., Ammaji was mentioned in the pension forms of the deceased father of the Petitioner as nominee. The Tahsildar, Ungutur, had issued a family member certificate dated 30.06.2015 showing the Petitioner as daughter of late G. Subba Rao. Taking note of these aspects, the District Audit Officer had issued a letter dated 31.08.2024 recommending the family pension to the Petitioner and considering the Petitioner as widowed daughter of Pensioner. 5 7. Rule 50 (v) of the Andhra Pradesh Revised Pension Rules, 1980 was amended vide G.O.Ms.No.315 dated 07.10.2010 and the widowed/daughters were also held to be entitled for family pension under Rule 50(v), Category-II. The same reads as under: “Rule 50(v) Category II A. In the case of Unmarried/ widowed/ divorced daughter, not covered by Category-I above, upto the date of marriage/ remarriage or till the date she starts earning or upto the date of death whichever is the earliest, provided they are wholly dependent on the employee/pensioner. B. In the case of Parents who were wholly dependent on the Government servant when he/ she was alive, upto the date of death, provided the deceased employee has left behind neither a widow nor a child. NOTE (1):- Family Pension to unmarried/widowed/divorced daughters and dependent parents specified in Category-II, shall be payable only after the other eligible family members in Category-I have ceased to be eligible to receive family pension and there is no disabled child to receive the family pension. NOTE (2):- Grant of family pension to children in respective categories shall be payable in order of their date of birth and younger of them will not be eligible for family pension unless the next above him/her has become ineligible for grant of family pension in that category. NOTE (3):- The income criteria for dependency will be the minimum family pension along with dearness relief thereon.” Category – II: (i) Unmarried/ widowed/ divorced daughter, not covered by Category-I above, (ii) Parents who were wholly dependent on the Government servant when he/ she was alive, provided the deceased employee has left behind neither a widow nor a child. Note:- The period of payment of Family Pension and conditions subject to which the Family Pension is payable, shall be as specified in Sub-rule (5) above.” 8. As per the amendment, a widowed daughter is entitled for family pension, provided she was dependant and no other persons specified in Rule 6 50(v) Category I are available i.e., spouse and minor children of the deceased employee. The category I & II family was reiterated in Rule 50(12) also. 9. The above Rule was clarified vide G.O.Ms.No.353, dated 04.12.2010 reiterating Note (1) of Rule 50(v) Category-II and the relevant portion is extracted below: “6. If there are no eligible family members falling within Category-I of rule 50 (12) of the Andhra Pradesh Revised Pension Rules, 1980, then the Family Pension is payable to the family members specified in Category-II of Rule 50 (12) of the Andhra Pradesh Revised Pension Rules, 1980, subject to the conditions specified in Rule 50 (5) of the Andhra Pradesh Revised Pension Rules, 1980 Viz. (i) to the un-married / widowed / divorced daughter (not covered by Category-I) upto the date of marriage /re- marriage or till the date she starts earning or upto the date of death provided they are wholly dependent on the employee / Pensioner; (ii) to the parents who were wholly dependent on the Government Servant when he / she was alive, upto the date of death, provided the deceased employee has left behind neither a widow nor a child.” 10. In the light of the same, the widowed daughter is entitled for family pension. The Rules do not make any distinction in children of the first wife or the second wife, but the only criteria for sanction of family pension under the Rule 50 (v) of A.P. Revised Pension Rules, 1980, is that “the widowed daughter of the deceased Government employee”. In that view, the impugned endorsement bearing C.No.38/A3/1990-2024, dated 01.02.2025 cannot be sustained. The only issue that needs to be decided by the Respondent Authorities is, whether the Petitioner is dependant on the father/government 7 employee prior to his death to be entitled for the family pension. This being a question of fact, it would appropriate for the Respondents to gather local information of this aspect and accordingly proceed to determine the claim of pension of the Petitioner. 11. Therefore, the writ petition is disposed of with the following directions: i) The Respondent Authorities shall examine the dependency of the Petitioner on the deceased father prior to his death for family pension, and shall take further action for grant of family pension to the Petitioner in terms of Rule 50 (v) Category-II of A.P. Revised Pension Rules, 1980. ii) There shall be no order as to costs. As a sequel, miscellaneous petitions, if any, shall stand closed. __________________ NYAPATHY VIJAY, J Date: 30.09.2026 KLP/VSR