RSA No.4675 of 2010 (O & M) ::1:: IN THE HIGH COURT OF PUNJAB AND HARYANA AT CHANDIGARH RSA No.4675 of 2010 (O & M) Date of decision: May 13, 2011 Ranjit Singh .. Appellant Versus Union of India and others .. Respondents CORAM: HON'BLE MR.JUSTICE M.M.S. BEDI a). Whether Reporters of Local Papers may be allowed to see the judgment ? b). To be referred to the Reporter ? c). Whether the judgment should be reported in the Digest ? Present:- Mr. Gagandeep Singh Sirphikhi, Advocate, for the appellant. **** M.M.S. BEDI, J. (ORAL) This appeal has been filed by Ranjit Singh, who was plaintiff No.3 in the suit filed by Kashmir Kaur in her individual capacity and as a guardian of appellant and others in a suit for declaration that she was entitled to the pension of Sh. Avtar Singh being his wife along with the other plaintiffs. The said suit was decreed holding that she was married to Avtar Singh as proved by PW-1, PW-2, PW-3, PW-4 and PW-6. The plaintiff and other co-plaintiffs were held entitled to the service benefits of deceased-Avtar Singh in equal shares. The plaintiff along with other co- plaintiffs filed an appeal before the Lower Appellate Court alleging that Kashmir Kaur was not legally wedded wife of Avtar Singh but she was legally wedded wife of Gurmail Singh son of Bablir Singh, resident of RSA No.4675 of 2010 (O & M) ::2:: village Kalar, Tehsil Batala, District Gurdaspur and without having taken divorce from Gurmail Singh who is still alive, she cannot be held legally wedded wife of Avtar Singh. The Lower Appellate Court has dismissed the appeal. Learned counsel for the appellant has argued that in view of the admission of Kashmir Kaur in her cross-examination that she was married to Gurmail Singh, she cannot have been granted the service benefits of Avtar Singh. I have carefully considered the contention of learned counsel for the appellant and gone through the judgments of the Courts below. The plea regarding Kashmir Kaur being not legally wedded wife of Avtar Singh had not been raised by any one before the trial Court. The marriage has been proved by five witnesses as is apparent from the record of the trial Court. Whether the marriage of Kashmir Kaur with Avtar Singh is valid or not was never a question or an issue before the Courts below on the basis of pleadings. Besides this, it appears that it was on the basis of suit filed by Kashmir Kaur as guardian of other plaintiffs that the service benefits of Avtar Singh had been ordered to be equally shared by all the plaintiffs. No ground is made out for interference. The regular second appeal is dismissed. (M.M.S. BEDI) May 13, 2011 JUDGE Sukhpreet