'Mother' Need Not Be Biological: SC Urges IAF To Revisit Pension Rule Excluding Stepmothers

The Supreme Court urged the Indian Air Force to adopt a flexible approach in granting family pensions, holding that ‘mother’ for welfare schemes need not mean only the biological mother.

Hearing a plea by a stepmother who raised a deceased Airman from age six, Justices Surya Kant, Ujjal Bhuyan and N. Kotiswar Singh questioned why the definition couldn’t reflect who actually performed the role of a mother. 

The Court noted pension benefits should be determined case-by-case and adjourned the matter to September 18 for the IAF to reconsider.

The Armed Forces Tribunal had earlier rejected her claim.

[Jayashree Y Jogi V UOI & Ors.]