MADURAI
Freedom fighters’ pension scheme was introduced with the object of providing pension to living freedom fighters and their families without any expectation of such schemes in relevant times, observed the Madurai Bench of the Madras High Court while dismissing an appeal preferred by the State.
A Division Bench of Justices Pushpa Sathyanarayana and T. Krishnavalli dismissed the appeal against a single bench order that had directed grant of freedom fighter pension to Krishnasamy from Dindigul, who claimed that he had participated in the freedom struggle and was lodged in Coimbatore prison for over six months in 1941.
From the perusal of records, it was seen that the authorities had adopted a hyper-technical approach while dealing with the case of the freedom fighter by ignoring the object of the scheme. The rejection had been made with a close mind, the court said. The State had rejected the grant of pension for want of adequate particulars.
The court observed that in the partition of the country most of the citizens who were imprisoned found it difficult to retrieve the relevant records from jails where they were imprisoned. Retrieving such records from foreign countries was more cumbersome. The authorities should keep in mind the benefit that would reach such persons who had given the best part of their life for the country rather than take a technical approach, the court said.
The Bench said that there was no need to interfere with the order of the single judge and directed the State to grant the pension within a period of four weeks.