Divorcee entitled to ex-hubby's death benefits

Tirthankar Mitra, SNS, KOLKATA,1 MARCH: Marriages are made in heaven; but is a divorced wife enjoying an alimony entitled to any “death benefits” of the man who had been her husband when he dies in harness? In a precedent of sorts, a judgment of Mr Justice Sanjib Banerjee of Calcutta High Court has upheld the claim of a divorced wife seeking her ex-husband's "death benefits".

The managing director of CSTC has been directed by Mr Justice Banerjee to release the pension and other “death benefits” of Alok Bhattacharya, a driver of the public utility service to his divorced wife, Kakoli, within four months. In case of any delay, the CSTC will have to pay an interest of 7 per cent per annum.The couple had divorced in 2005 and Kakoli was getting an alimony of Rs 4,000 per month. Neither of them has remarried and they have a daughter who is also married.

After her former husband passed away on 17 November last year, Kakoli had applied for the release of his ‘death benefits’. But her plea was turned down on the ground that she had divorced the CSTC employee.