NEW DELHI: A 95-year-old freedom fighter, who had to run from pillar to post for nearly 40 years to secure his pension, succeeded on Monday with the Delhi High Court directing the Centre to pay him pension along with Rs 1 lakh cost.
The court said people have forgotten the agonies of those who suffered the thorns of ignominy and incarceration so that they could strew the path behind them with roses for generations to follow, like ours, to tread upon.
“Complacency and inertia are endemic to mankind, and the instant case presents a classic example thereof. Ensconced in our ivory towers, we have become blind, and deaf, to the plight of those who made a cosy existence, for us, possible,” Justice C Hari Shankar observed.
The court noted that freedom fighter Heera Singh had applied for grant of pension under the Swatantrata Sainik Samman (SSS) Pension Scheme in 1982 and he had to fight a battle for nearly 40 years to secure his entitlement.
It said out of this period, 25 years were taken by the Centre to reject his application in June 2007, which was filed in March 1982, and “there is no explanation, whatsoever, for this delay”.
Singh, in his petition, said during the freedom struggle, he along with other compatriots had captured a railway station, post office and police station which disconnected avenues of communications, for the British, of Madhubani town from the Darbhanga headquarter, as well as from Patna.
The court directed the government to disburse the entire arrears of pension along with with Rs 1 lakh cost awarded to him within four weeks from Monday, failing which the Centre would have to pay the interest on the entire amount at the rate of 12 per cent per annum.