Conjugal rights of forgery victim restored

THE FAMILY Court, Lucknow and the Lucknow Bench of the High Court ‘revived’ the marriage of Bitto Devi with her husband who is in coma at the Sanjay Gandhi Post Graduate Institute of Medical Sciences (SGPGIMS), Lucknow.

Ayodhya Prasad’s life for the past one year has been strange. Being comatose, he has not even been aware of it. A medical attendant at the SGPGIMS, he met with a road accident in Telibagh area on October 4, 2005 while pillion riding on a motorbike.

Soon after the accident, a woman named Munni Devi claimed to be his wife.

Munni Devi’s brother-in-law, Tedhe Sur, an employee at the Records Room of SGPGIMS, allegedly tampered with the original documents carrying Ayodhya’s family details and put Munni Devi’s name in place of his wife’s.

He, however, ignored to erase from the document the names of the two children of Bitto Devi, Ayodhya’s wife. With this fudging of documents, all service benefits of Ayodhya started going to Munni Devi. The criminal twosome withdrew all the money from Ayodhya’s bank account where his salary was being credited for the past several months. They even took a loan from the SGPGIMS on the basis of the forged documents.

For three months after the accident, Ayodhya was in an ICU at the SGPGIMS, after which doctors suggested that he should be taken home. A quarter was allotted to the ailing Ayodhya on the SGPGIMS campus to facilitate trouble-free treatment. But here too, Munni Devi took over and kept Bitto Devi, her children and relatives away. She used to keep the bed-ridden and comatose Ayodhya locked up in a room.

Finally, Bitto Devi moved the Family Court, Lucknow and filed a declarative suit that sought permanent injunction for restoration of her right to take care of her husband and get service benefits due to her. She filed the case in May, 2006.

Principal Judge, Family Court, Lucknow, on studying the case and evidences presented by Bitto through her counsel Ranjana Dixit, ordered on November 15, that prima facie Bitto Devi was the wife of Ayodhya and her right to taking care of her husband and getting service benefits should not be hindered.

Following the order, Bitto Devi also moved the High Court where Justice Rakesh Sharma observed: “In the counter affidavit filed before this Court by Munni Devi, she had claimed herself to be legally wedded wife of Ayodhya Prasad. She claimed to be a married woman, and on the other hand, was receiving widow pension from Collector, Sitapur. In the counter affidavit, filed by DM, Sitapur it has been averred that Munni Devi is wife of late Faqirey Lal. In view of this, it is expected from DM to take proper necessary action against Munni Devi, if she has received pension.” He further said: “It is expected from concerned authorities of SGPGI to ensure compliance of the order passed by the Principal Judge, Family Court.”

Now, Bitto Devi with the help of police is living with Ayodhya Prasad to take care of him,

but she has not yet started getting service benefits from SGPGIMS as yet. Ayodhya Prasad is 42, Bitto Devi is 38, and Munni Devi is 60.