Delhi High Court allows grant of pension to freedom fighter

New Delhi, July 25 (UNI) Delhi High Court today allowed a 95 year old man, who had lost all proof of being a freedom fighter, the benefit of freedom fighter's pension on the basis of recommendation letters from his well known colleagues.

Justice Badar Durrez Ahmed said the petitioner had fulfilled all requirements except obtaining the certificate from the State Government stating that documentary evidence and official records proving that he was a freedom fighter are not available.

The man is already 95 years of age and it would be not be fair on the part of this court to further delay the proceedings in this regard when official records are missing, he said.

According to Dharam Dev, he was active in the freedom struggle, from September 10, 1942 to September 13, 1943. However, he had gone underground and record of his struggle was missing. But he produced two letters from two of his colleagues who testified to his role in the freedom struggle.

As per the scheme, when a person claims pension on account of having gone 'underground' while participating in the freedom struggle, he has to establish that he went underground for a period of more than six months, that he was a proclaimed offender or one of whom an award for arrest was announced or one for whose detention an order was issued but not served.

The scheme further provides that in case records of relevant period are not available, secondary evidence in the form of personal knowledge certificate(PKC) from a prominent freedom fighter, who has proven jail suffering of a minimum two years and who happened to be from the same adminstrative unit could be considered.

Dharam Dev had no records available so he submitted two personal knowledge certificates from prominent freedom fighters who were in jail for more than two years during the same period. The first certificate was from Mr Lajja Ram Chaudhary, who had sufferred imprisonment for more than five years and the second was from Mr Datta Ram who had also undergone imprisonment for more than five years.

The Court directed the Delhi Government to remove the clause of not giving pension to persons who had gone underground and grant pension to Dharam Dev.

UNI