New Delhi: The Supreme Court has ruled that once an employee gets married, any nomination previously made in favour of a parent for the General Provident Fund (GPF) automatically ceases. The fund must now be equally shared between the employee’s spouse and parents.

A bench of Justices Sanjay Karol and N Kotiswar Singh set aside the Bombay High Court’s ruling, restoring the Central Administrative Tribunal’s (CAT) decision to divide the GPF equally between the wife and the mother of the deceased employee.

“The nomination in favour of the deceased’s mother becomes invalid once he acquires a family through marriage,” the court noted. “A nomination does not confer a superior claim over eligible family members.”

Background

The case involved a Defence Accounts Department employee who, in 2000, had nominated his mother for his GPF, Central Government Employees Group Insurance Scheme (CGEGIS), and Death cum Retirement Gratuity (DCRG). After marrying in 2003, he updated the nominations for CGEGIS and DCRG in favour of his wife but did not change the GPF nomination.

Following his death in 2021, the wife received all other benefits but was denied the GPF, as authorities relied on the original nomination favouring the mother. The CAT had directed an equal division of the fund, but the Bombay High Court reversed this, saying the nomination remained valid unless formally cancelled.

The Supreme Court disagreed, reiterating that the law automatically invalidates parental nominations once an employee marries. The GPF will now be equally distributed between the deceased employee’s wife and mother.