The Supreme Court on Thursday asked the Center why the freedom fighter's divorced daughter should not get the benefit of the freedom fighter's pension. A three-member bench headed by Justice UU Lalit has issued a notice to the central government on this petition by Tulsi Devi. The government has been asked to file a reply by the last week of July. Earlier the Himachal Pradesh High Court had dismissed Tulsi Devi's petition.
In this hearing held through video conferencing, advocate Dushyant Parashar, appearing for the petitioner woman, told the bench that his client's father Gopal Ram was a freedom fighter, which gave him freedom fighter pension. His divorced daughter Tulsi lived with him and was completely dependent on his parents. After the father's death, Tulsi became completely dependent on her mother Kaushalya.
In his lifetime, Kaushalya wrote a letter to the Prime Minister in January 2018 requesting that the daughter of the freedom fighter pension should be provided to the daughter thereafter, as her daughter is completely dependent on her and does not have any other source of income. In September 2018, his request was rejected, after which Tulsi approached the Himachal Pradesh High Court, but his petition was rejected by the High Court. The High Court said in its decision that there is no such system in the provisions of the Freedom Sainik Samman Pension Scheme. After which Tulsi filed a Special Leave Petition (SLP) in the Supreme Court against this decision of the High Court.
Advocate cited 2016 judgment of Punjab and Haryana High Court
Dushyant Parashar, counsel for the petitioner, cited before the bench the judgment given by the Punjab and Haryana High Court in 2016 in which similar relief was given, which was later upheld by the Supreme Court. The Supreme Court refused to interfere with the High Court's decision, terming the High Court's decision as progressive and socially constructive. In addition, Parashar has also cited the circular of 2012, which provides for the pension of a divorced daughter.
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