Setting aside the order passed by the Theni Collector rejecting grant of freedom fighters family pension to the wife of a freedom fighter, the Madurai Bench of the Madras High Court observed that the Collector’s order conveyed no sense.
Justice C.V. Karthikeyan observed that it reflected deliberate bureaucratic refusal to understand that the Collector owed his/her position only because of the sacrifices and sufferings of freedom fighters. The court was hearing the petition filed by M. Saiyedha Begum, who said her husband Mohammed Sheriff was lodged at Allipuram Camp Jail in Bellary, Karnataka, from October 1943 to April 1944.
Sheriff had not sought freedom fighters pension. However, Ms. Begum made representations to the authorities on the grounds that she was entitled to the freedom fighters family pension.
The original representation was rejected on the grounds that the petitioner’s husband had not been granted the freedom fighters pension. When she approached the High Court in 2017, the court held that she was eligible for the pension.
The court held that if her husband had satisfied the condition of serving in prison and other related conditions then her application could not be rejected.The authorities had not filed an appeal against the 2017 court order. Taking note of it, the judge said the order was binding on the authorities. Unfortunately, the representation was yet again rejected on the grounds that her husband had not sought the pension.
The court set aside the Theni Collector’s order, and directed the Collector to consider the petitioner’s representation within six weeks.
