Shimla, June 18 -- "Parents become entitled to family pension when the widow remarries", ruled the Himachal Pradesh high court coming to aid of an 83-year-old mother of a Border Security Force (BSF) soldier.

The bench of Justice Sandeep Sharma directed Union of India to grant family pension to Shankari Devi, 83, while setting aside a decades-old rejection order making her ineligible.

The court directed the Union government to consider the prayer made by the petitioner for grant of family pension, strictly in terms of Sub-clause 10 of Rule 50 of the Rules, which makes parents entitled for pension after remarriage of a widow.

The petitioner apprised the HC that Shankari Devi's son Lekh Ram joined BSF in 1979. In 1985, Lekh Ram got marrie...