THE HONOURABLE SRI JUSTICE A.V.SESHA SAI WRIT PETITION No.14042 of 2006 Dated 15th April, 2014 Between:
Palika Ailaiah s/o Thirupathaiah.
and The Deputy Secretary to Government of India, Ministry of Home Affairs, Freedom Fighters Division, Lokhnayak Bhavan, New Delhi and another.
…Petitioner … Respondents THE HONOURABLE SRI JUSTICE A.V.SESHA SAI WRIT PETITION No.14042 of 2006
O R D E R:
This writ petition, under Article 226 of the Constitution of India, is filed seeking direction to the respondents herein to grant Swatantrata Sainik Samman Pension to the petitioner herein.
2. Heard Sri G.Ravi Mohan, learned counsel for the writ petitioners and Sri P.Vishnuvardhan Reddy, learned Assistant Solicitor General for Union of India for respondents 1 and 2 and the learned Government Pleader for Revenue for the third respondent and perused the material on record.
3. According to the petitioner herein, he is a freedom fighter and he participated in the freedom struggle during the years 1947-1948 for merger of erstwhile Hyderabad State in the Union of India. It is averred in the writ affidavit that the petitioner herein made application to the second respondent on 05.02.1984 for sanction of pension under Swatantrata Sainik Samman Pension Scheme 1980 (hereinafter called ‘the Scheme’) and he submitted the certificate issued by one Mr.Kondapalli Sathyanarayana Reddy and Sri Basavaraju Mahdusudhan Rao, and complaining against the inaction on the part of the respondents, petitioner herein earlier filed W.P.No.13421/1994 along with the similarly situated persons before this Court, seeking a direction to place his application before the Screening Committee and the said writ petition was disposed of by this Court, directing the second respondent to consider the material placed by the petitioner and pass appropriate orders. According to the petitioner herein, in pursuance of the said orders of this Court, his application was rejected on 04.08.2005. The grievance of the petitioner herein is that the respondents herein rejected the case of the petitioner without assigning any proper reasons.
4. This Court ordered Rule Nisi on 11.07.2006. A counter affidavit is filed on behalf of the first respondent stating that the case of the petitioner herein along with other Non-committee recommended cases were referred back to the State Government for sending the mandatory verification-cum- entitlement to pension report, but till date, the State Government has not forwarded the required report. The counter further states that in the absence of mandatory verification-cum-entitlement to pension report from the State Government, respondents 1 and 2 cannot consider the claim of the petitioner herein. Vide orders passed today in WPMP.No.11573/2014 the Government of Andhra Pradesh is impleaded as third respondent in the writ petition. As per the cause title in the writ petition, the petitioner herein is now 86 years old and is in the evening of his life.
5. The Government of India introduced the Scheme only with the laudable and sacred object and intention of safeguarding the freedom fighters who sacrificed their lives, wealth and health and young age for liberating the country from the shackles of feudal and colonial forces. The said benefit is undoubtedly not a charity or a gratis and in the considered opinion of this Court it is a right conferred on them in recognition of the sacrifices made by them for our nation. Therefore, the authorities authorised with the powers to deal with the sanction of the said benefit are required to keep the said object in mind while dealing with the cases of the freedom fighters.
6. In the instant case, the petitioner herein initially made an application as long back as in the year 1984, but unfortunately he could not get the benefit under the Scheme till date. The categoric case of the respondents 1 and 2 herein is that the matter is pending consideration before the State Government, third respondent herein, and unless verification-cum- entitlement to pension report is received from the State Government, respondents 1 and 2 cannot consider the claim of the petitioner herein.
7. For the aforesaid reasons and having regard to the statement made by the first respondent in the counter, this writ petition is disposed of directing the third respondent herein to send the verification-cum- entitlement to pension report after holding enquiry about the entitlement of the petitioner herein within a period of two months from the date of receipt of this order to the Government of India, and after receipt of the same, the Union of India shall pass appropriate orders on the claim of the petitioner herein within a period of two months thereafter. Consequently, pending miscellaneous petition, if any, shall stand dismissed. No order as to costs.
A.V.SESHA SAI, J Date: 15-04-2014 grk 164 THE HONOURABLE SRI JUSTICE A.V.SESHA SAI
WRIT PETITION No.14042 of 2006
Dated 15th April, 2014 grk