After 15 years of tussle, 87-year-old freedom fighter close to realizing his pension

Chennai:

After 15 years of legal tussle, a 87-year-old freedom fighter is now close to realizing his pension after the Madras High Court directed the state government to do so with a period of four weeks.

In his order, Justice K Ravichandrabaabu said expressed concern that the petitioner N Subramaniam, who fought for the freedom, has now to fight for his pension at such an old age.

“Authorities should realize that it is not a charity that is extended by the government to these type of persons by granting them pension. It is the bound duty of the government to confer such honour on them without loss of time,” the judge said.

“The state government is directed to issue Freedom fighters Pension to the petitioner from the date of his application within a period of four weeks,” he said.

Interestingly, 87-year old N Subramaniam, who had joined the freedom struggle by enrolling in Indian Independence League in 1944 in the Dallah Branch, Rangoon, Burma under the chairaman V A Rangasamy, applied for pension on April, 1998.

The petitioner stated that he had participated in various struggles relating to freedom movement during the year 1944-45 and was also arrested by the British force and tried by Allied Marshal Court and imprisoned in Rangoon central Jail for a period of six months from May 1945-November 1945.

He made an application in the prescribed format in April 1998 by enclosing a certificate issued by his co-prisoner M Subramani. Even an identity certificate by one Sevathiyan was enclosed and state president of Tamil Nadu Indian National Army Forum P K Servai issued a personal knowledge certificate stating that he had been a member of India Independence League and participated in the freedom struggle.

Even the general secretary of Indian National Army Committee also issued a certificate backing his antecedents.

The government rejected the application stating that the personal knowledge certificate issued by secretary of Indian National Army Forum Tamil Nadu is not issued on document support and the genuiness of certificate issued by the secretary All India INA could not be verified. On April 2013, the petitioner’s claim was gain rejected on the grounds that the records furnished are not in consonance with the rules and no new materials are filed.

The court observed that once the genuineness of the certificate is not in doubt, then the contents of the certificate has to be taken as true, in the absence of any contradictory material available before the state.

“Mere technical objections should not stand in the way of disbursing pension to freedom fighters. It appears the state government has chosen to search for reasons to reject the request of the petitioner rather than finding a reason to grant. It is nothing but a pedantic approach when the authorities are expected to have a pragmatic one while considering these type of cases,” the court observed