Both sisters claimed that their marriage with Ratanrao is valid one. It is further not disputed that the appellant as well as respondent begot children from Ratanrao. The applicant has made an application for grant of succession certificate in respect of family pension. Once there is no dispute that the appellant begot children from her relationship with Ratanrao then question is whether children of appellant would be entitled to claim a share in the pension. No doubt, the Appellate Court has discussed the evidence on record and arrived at the finding that marriage of Ratanrao with Alka cannot be branded as illegal. However, the Appellate Court seems to have been swayed by the fact that in the nomination form, Ratanrao nominated the respondent as his nominee. The Appellate Court also was of the opinion that when the permission of the Collector to institute the Suit is not obtained, this results in noncompliance of mandatory provisions of the Pensions Act, 1871 and therefore the jurisdiction of the Civil Court is taken away.
