S. Siri Jagan, J.

While dealing with cases relating to claims for pension under the Swatantrata Sainik Samman Pension Scheme of the Government of India, a question which occurred to me often was, "is the object of the pension merely to dole out some money to give some help to some freedom fighters to spend the rest of their lives or is the object a nobler one?" I have asked this question to myself time and again. I am of opinion that while honouring them with a token help in their old age, we are honouring ourselves and our great nation, which is today the largest democracy in the world, only because of the sacrifice made by those great men.This sentiment has been expressed by many Judges of various High Courts and Supreme Court time and again. The observation of the Hon'ble Supreme Court in Mukundalal Bhandari v. Union of India, AIR 1993 SC 2127 is on point in this respect. Paragraph 4 of that judgment reads thus:

"What is more, if the Scheme has been introduced with the genuine desire to assist and honour those who had given the best part of their life for the country, it ill-behaves the Government to raise pleas of limitation against such claims. In fact, the Government,