Is a second wife whose marriage is void under the Hindu Marriage Act, 1955 a widow entitled to family pension?

Tamil Nadu Pension Rules, 1978 — r.49(7)(a)(i) — Hindu Marriage Act, 1955 — ss.5(i), 11 — Tamil Nadu Government Servants Conduct Rules, 1973 — r.19 — Family pension — Second wife — Status of widow — Hindu Marriage Act, 1955 — ss.5(i), 11 — Void second marriage — No status of widow — Held: A second marriage solemnised while the first subsists is null and void, and a mutual agreement of separation registered under the Registration Act is no valid divorce; the second wife therefore holds no status as widow. (¶13, 3) Tamil Nadu Pension Rules, 1978 — r.49(7)(a)(i) — Payability precedes sharing — Held further: Rule 49(7)(a)(i) governs the sharing of family pension where it is payable to more widows than one; it does not sanction family pension to a second wife whose marriage was not solemnised in accordance with law. (¶12, 15) Tamil Nadu Pension Rules, 1978 — r.49(7)(a)(i) — Sharing confined to pre-1955 marriages — Held further: The sharing provision was framed for second marriages solemnised before the Hindu Marriage Act, 1955, when they were valid; a wife married after it, second marriage then being misconduct and an offence, cannot take advantage of it. Writ appeal allowed. (¶14)