The importance of ensuring that only genuine freedom fighters receive the pension and the need to weed out false and fabricated claims.

JUDGMENT :

Arun R. Pedneker, J.

1. Rule. Rule made returnable forthwith. With the consent of parties, heard finally.

2. We have heard Advocate R.M. Sharma for the petitioner, Advocate Shri Bagul for Union of India and Advocate P.K. Lakhotiya, advocate for respondent No. 2/State.

3. By this writ petition, the petitioner [wife of deceased Ranchoddas Vaishnav (Bairagi)] is praying for quashing of communications dated 22.3.1999 issued by Gaurav Samiti and 31.7.1999 issued by the Collector, Jalna and further communication dated 16.8.2000 of the Under Secretary to the Government of India, rejecting the freedom fighter’s claim of the petitioner’s deceased husband. She further prays for direction to the respondents to grant freedom fighter pension to the petitioner as the widow of a freedom fighter.

4. The petitioner is the widow of late Ranchoddas Vaishnav (Bairagi) and she is residing at Jalna. The petitioner claims that her husband, at the relevant time, was involved in Hyderabad Liberation Movement and his activities were prejudicial to the then occupying forces. The husband of the petitioner was an underground activist. The petitioner further submits that her husband had filed application in the year 1995 claiming for freedom fighter pension and he had given various reminders continuously to the authorities to process his application. The petitioner’s husband, at the relevant time, had also filed revised application in prescribed proforma along with necessary information on 24.11.1997, supported by the required affidavits. Moreover, another application was filed to Union of India on 18.12.1997 to get the freedom fighter pension as per the Central Government’s scheme of 1980.

5. It is submitted that the petitioner’s husband also filed Writ Petition No. 2689/1996, challenging the non grant of pension and inaction on the part of the authorities to decide his freedom fighters pension claim application. The said writ petition was decided on 19.11.1996 by this Court by directing respondent No. 1 - Collector Jalna to decide and dispose off the application filed by the petitioner for grant of freedom fighter pension dated 25.7.1995 and revised application dated 24.11.1997 within a period of four months. The petitioner’s husband thereafter filed Contempt Petition No. 3/2000 in Writ Petition No. 2689/1996 for inaction on the part of the respondents/authorities. The Collector, thereafter, decided the application filed by the petitioner’s husband and contempt petition was accordingly disposed of.

6. The petitioner submits that due to old age of the husband of the petitioner, he could not visit the office of the Collector and therefore, he made representations to the Collector, Jalna and filed application in prescribed format, earliest being dated 25.7.1995 and subsequently dated 24.11.1997 and last on 30.11.2006 with affidavits. Thereafter, the petitioner’s husband applied under the Right to Information Act, seeking information on the status of his application. The petitioner’s husband was informed that his pension claim has been rejected by order dated 31.7.1999, not only by the Collector, but also by the Freedom Fighter Committee, for having not fulfilled the conditions in Government Resolutions (GRs) dated 4.7.1995. Similarly, by letter dated 16.8.2000, the Central Government also informed that the claim of the petitioner’s husband was rejected for not being eligible to get the freedom fighter’s pension. However, the petitioner’s husband has not challenged order dated 31.7.1999 in his litigation.

7. After the demise of the husband on 27.11.2017, the petitioner, being widow of Rachoddas Vaishnav by present writ petition is challenging the impugned order passed by the State Government dated 31.7.1999 and the impugned rejection of the claim of freedom fighter pension of her husband by the Central Government dated 16.8.2000.

8. The petitioner being the widow of Ranchoddas Vaishnav has also filed an independent application dated 5.1.2018, which also ha