Maharashtra govt must ensure freedom fighters and kin get benefits on time: Bombay HC

The Bombay HC, in a recent judgement, opined that if a pension scheme for freedom fighters and their dependents was introduced with a desire to help and honour such persons, then it ill behoves the Maharashtra government to dismiss claims owing to failure in document submissions or late applications. The court directed CM Uddhav Thackeray-led government to grant pension to the 90-year-old freedom fighter under the 'Swatantrata Sainik Samman Pension Scheme, 1980'. A division bench of Justices Ujjal Bhuyan and Madhav Jamdar said the Maharashtra government should approach freedom fighters and their dependents to provide them with the grant of benefits of the scheme mentioned above rather than making such people file applications to proceed. The Bombay HC directed the Maharashtra government to start paying the 90-year-old widow freedom fighter under 'Swatantrata Sainik Samman Pension Scheme, 1980'. 

Notably, the order was passed on a plea filed by Shalini Chavan, a resident of Raigad district, who sought the scheme's benefits and pleaded the sum be accorded to her, given her late husband Laxman Chavan was a freedom fighter. In previous hearings, the Bombay High Court had clarified that the available evidence in the case at hand did not dispute the status of Laxman Chavan being a freedom fighter and Shalini Chvana being his widow. 

Maharashtra govt contends freedom fighter's wife's pension plea

Meanwhile, the state government filed an affidavit to the plea claiming the petitioner was ineligible for pension as she had not submitted a mandatory original imprisonment certificate. The Maharashtra government further contended that Shalini Chavan's claim for pension was filed belatedly. However, the Bombay HC held there cannot exist rigidity in the time limit for making such applications and said, "The prescription of a rigid time limit for the proof of entitlement in the very nature of things is demeaning. If the scheme for freedom fighters and their family was introduced with a genuine desire to assist and honour those who had given the best part of their life for the country, it ill behoves the government to raise a plea of limitation against such claims."

Furthermore, the bench noted that in instances where original documents are made available by the applicant, the state government should examine if the contention is genuine and if it has been established that the person had participated in a freedom movement. "It should be done by applying the principle of probability," the bench said. 

It is pertinent to note that the Bombay HC directed the member secretary of Raigad District Legal Services Authority to go to the petitioner's residence and assist her in collecting material documents. The Court also noted that Shalini Chavan has been pursuing her case since 1993 and she should be paid pension under the Scheme from October 2021. The bench has listed the matter for further hearing on January 6, 2022. The petitioner has sought an ex gratia sum of Rs 10 lakhs in the absence of a caregiver after her son's demise. 

Notably, the plea states Laxman Chavan participated in the Quit India Movement in 1942 and was sentenced and jailed at Byculla Jail from April 17, 1944, to October 11, 1944. He died on March 12, 1965. 

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