Chandigarh, Sept. 13 -- In an unusual family pension case, the Armed Forces Tribunal (AFT), Chandigarh, directed the authorities to grant ordinary family pension to Satnam Kaur, the second wife of a former army havildar, even after holding that their marriage was legally void under the Hindu Marriage Act. The tribunal said the circumstances of the relationship could not be ignored, particularly the first wife's consent, the couple's long cohabitation, the birth of a daughter and official army records identifying Satnam Kaur as the soldier's wife. A bench of Justice Umesh Chandra Sharma, member (J), and Air Marshal Manavendra Singh, member (A), passed the order on September 3, 2026, in Satnam Kaur's application against the Union of India and others. The case has its roots in 1940. Late havildar Jagat Singh married Mohinder Kaur on January 1, 1940, and was enrolled in the Army on July 9 that year. He served until July 9, 1961, and thereafter received service pension. The couple had no children. On April 13, 1970, Jagat married Satnam while Mohinder was still alive. However, the tribunal noted that the first wife had consented to the second marriage. In affidavits executed on March 30, 1970, Jagat and Mohinder stated that the first marriage had remained childless and that Mohinder had willingly allowed him to marry again in the hope of having a child. Jagat also undertook to maintain his first wife throughout her lifetime. Satnam and Jagat subsequently lived together as husband and wife, and a daughter, Sukhwinder Kaur, was born. The tribunal noted that the names of Satnam and her daughter were also recorded in Jagat's army service records. Other documents, including a ration card and voter card, supported her claim. Jagat died on February 13, 1998, following which a family pension was granted to Mohinder from February 14, 1998. After Mohinder died on February 9, 2017, the pension stopped. Satnam then sought pension from February 10, 2017. The authorities rejected her claim, citing the destruction of the old service records and army regulations concerning plural marriages. The AFT accepted that the second marriage, solemnised during the lifetime of the first wife, was void under Sections 5, 7 and 11 of the Hindu Marriage Act, 1955. But the tribunal drew an important distinction while deciding the pension claim. Referring to Supreme Court precedents, it observed that long and continuous cohabitation as husband and wife can raise a presumption in favour of marriage, although the presumption is rebuttable. The burden, the tribunal noted, lies heavily on the person seeking to deny the relationship its legal character. In the instant case, the tribunal found the first wife's consent, the long cohabitation, the birth of a daughter and the army records established the relevant facts, while the respondents could not produce evidence to controvert them. The tribunal accordingly quashed the September 15, 2018, rejection letter and directed the authorities to grant Satnam ordinary family pension from February 10, 2017, with consequential benefits and 6% annual interest. The payment must be made within three months of receipt of the certified order. In case of default, the interest rate will rise to 8% per annum....