Chennai:
Castigating the Union government for not giving due respect to freedom fighters, the Madras high court came to the rescue of a wife of a freedom fighter and quashed a 1980 Central order, refusing freedom fighter pension, and directed it to pay pension from the date of his application (1980) and family pension to the wife from the date of his death.
Justice D. Hariparanthaman allowed the petition filed by Ms Palammal, the wife whose husband N. Palaiyan was a freedom fighter.
Palaiyan joined the Indian National Army (INA), led by Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose, and fought for freedom. He received freedom fighter pension from the state from 1967. In 1980, he applied to the Union government for pension under the Swathantratha Sainik Samman INA pension, along with two co-prisoners’ certificates. The Centre sought some clarifications and he replied. However, his claim was rejected on October 10, 1980 stating that there was some contradiction in his reply. After his death in 1993, and several representations to the Union government for pension, his wife filed the present petition.
Stating that he was quashing the 1980 order, the judge observed there was no contradiction. He said it is not known on what basis the Union government has stated that the British government did not imprison civilian members of INA. If that yardstick is adopted, neither Bose nor Captain Lakshmi would be entitled to pension under the Central scheme as they did not desert the British army. “Therefore, the reason given by the Union government is really a humiliation and not giving due respect to the freedom fighters.”
source: http://www.DeccanChronicle.com / Home> News> Current Affairs / DC / by J. Stalin / March 10th, 2013