IN THE HIGH COURT FOR THE STATE OF TELANGANA AT HYDERABAD HON’BLE SRI JUSTICE NAGESH BHEEMAPAKA WRIT PETITION No. 13738 OF 2022

05.03.2026 Between:

Smt. Javvaji Bharathi .. Petitioner And The Government of India, Ministry of Home Affairs / Grih Mantralaya Freedom Fighters Pension / Swatantrata Senani Prabhagh, New Delhi & others ..Respondents

O R D E R:

Petitioner claims to be a freedom fighter who fought against the Nizam State for its merger into the Union of India during the Hyderabad Liberation Movement and that her husband was also a freedom fighter. In order to extend financial assistance and honour such freedom fighters, the Government of India formulated the Swatantra Sainik Samman Pension Scheme, 1980; she applied for pension under the said Scheme by submitting all the required documents and evidence, and that after due verification by the competent authorities and the screening committee constituted by the Government of India comprising eminent freedom fighters, her claim was accepted and pension was sanctioned vide proceedings dated 25.02.2004 and she has been drawing pension with effect from 09.05.2003. 1.1. Petitioner states that after lapse of several years, on the allegation that certain complaints had been received against pensioners in the State, the matter was reopened and an enquiry was sought to be conducted through the State Government. The State Government submitted report dated 23.05.2009 proposing cancellation of her pension on the ground of alleged discrepancy in her age and on the allegation that she had submitted a forged voters' list, though she was allegedly not born at the time of Hyderabad Liberation during 1947-48. The said report was challenged in Writ Petition No. 15428 of 2009 and this Court initially granted stay on 13.07.2009. The said Writ Petition was subsequently dismissed for default on 17.09.2018 owing to her advanced age and inability to properly prosecute the matter.

1.2. Petitioner states that thereafter, without affording her any opportunity of hearing, Respondent No. 1 issued order dated 24.06.2019 cancelling her pension on the grounds that the above Writ Petition was dismissed for non-prosecution and the State Government report dated 23.05.2009 indicated discrepancies regarding her age, including the allegation that she had submitted a forged voters' list of 1988 and that she was not born at the time of Hyderabad Liberation during 1947-48. Petitioner further states that it was additionally alleged that the screening committee recommendation slip in respect of her file was incomplete and could not be treated as a valid recommendation; all such grounds are untenable, as she had submitted all necessary documents which were duly verified by the authorities concerned and by the screening committee constituted by the Government of India, and that her claim had attained finality upon sanction of pension. Cancellation after lapse of many years on the basis of alleged discrepancy in voters' list with regard to age is unsustainable.

1.3. Petitioner states that she challenged the cancellation order dated 24.06.2019 by filing Writ Petition No.17892 of 2019 and this Court, by order dated 05.03.2021, allowed the said Writ Petition and set aside the cancellation order on the ground that no opportunity of hearing had been afforded to her, while granting liberty to the Ministry to reconsider the case afresh after putting her on notice. Thereafter, Respondent No.1 issued show cause notice dated 26.04.2021 and again sought a report from the State Government i.e. Respondent No.4, which submitted report dated 01.02.2022 stating that there was discrepancy with regard to her age and alleging that she was less than 3 years old during participation in the Hyderabad Movement and that the District Collector found her age to be less than 3 years as on March, 1947.

1.4. Petitioner states that except for the alleged discrepancy in voters' list, all the other documents consistently show her date of birth and the