Asha Roy v. State of West Bengal and Ors.
Case brief
What is this about?
Sm. Asha Roy v. State of West Bengal and others, W.P.S.T. 153 of 2024, decided 17.03.2025 (Madhuresh Prasad, J.; Supratim Bhattacharya, J.). Petitioner, claiming to be the legally married wife of deceased government employee Arabinda Roy (d. 30.04.2021), sought family pension and retiral benefits via O.A. No.43 of 2023 before the State Administrative Tribunal; the State cited the deceased's nomination of Ms. Parul Roy as wife/nominee. Tribunal rejected the O.A. (order dated 27.09.2023) as not the proper forum for deciding legality of marriage. Bench upheld the Tribunal's order, observing that under the Administrative Tribunal's Act the marital-status issue lies outside the Tribunal's scope and must be pursued under normal civil laws; writ petition dismissed with liberty to seek the appropriate civil forum.
What did the court decide?
Liberty to the petitioner to raise her claim before the appropriate forum in accordance with law.