Give pension to freedom fighter’s widow from Oct: HC to govt

In a relief for the 90-year-old widow, the Bombay High Court has directed the government to start paying pension to her under the ‘Swatantrata Sainik Sanman Pension Scheme, 1980' from the current month itself observing that a “rigid timelimit for the proof of entitlement in the very nature of things is demeaning”.

A division bench of justices Ujjal Bhuyan and Madhav Jamdar observed: “In the interim, considering the age of the Petitioner and the fact that she has been pursuing her case since 1993, we direct that she shall be paid pension under the aforesaid scheme from the month of October 2021 which shall be subject to outcome of the writ petition.”

The HC was hearing a petition by Raigad resident Shalini Chavan through her advocates Jitendra Pathade and Shrikant Radkar, seeking benefits of the scheme to be accorded to her as her late husband was a freedom fighter.

In order to help Chavan prove her eligibility, the HC has also directed the Member Secretary of District Legal Services Authority (DLSA) to provide requisite number of legal aid Counsel/Para-legal volunteer and assist her (Chavan) in collecting convincing material/documents/evidence which may be affidavit of neighbours or respectable persons of the locality.

The DLSA has been then directed to forward the relevant documents to the state government.

The judges expressed displeasure by the stand taken by the state government that Chavan was ineligible for receiving pension since she had failed to submit original imprisonment certificate.

Affidavit filed by the government said that it was mandatory to submit the original imprisonment certificate before the authority for grant of pension as per Government Resolution dated July 4, 1995.