Madras high court: Sorry, made you wait for 37 years

Chennai: Coming to the rescue of an 89-year-old freedom fighter, who has been patiently waiting for his freedom fighters’ pension from the government for over 37 years, the Madras high court has directed the state government to pass orders granting pension to him and serve the order at his door steps within two weeks.

“Sorry sir, you are made to suffer at the hands of our people too, as, unfortunately, this is how the bureaucratic dogmatism with wooden approach works, at times, in this country, for which you fought to get freedom”, said Justice K. Ravichandrabaabu while issuing the above directive.

V. Gandhi joined the Indian National Army floated by Netaji Subhash Chandra Bose and was a part of the Indian Independence League in Rangoon, Burma.
In the struggle for freedom of this country, he underwent imprisonment in 1945. In 1980, he sent a representation along with necessary certificates to grant pension.

Since, there was no proper response he filed the present petition after 37 years.
The state government submitted that the request of the petitioner was not considered by it favourably only on the reason that there was a discrepancy in the age of the petitioner in those documents submitted by him.

Allowing the petition, the judge said, “I am totally unable to either comprehend myself or conceive the reasoning of the authorities for rejecting the claim of the petitioner, that too, especially when the same is not going to the root of the matter. When the factual aspect of the matter viz the factum of participation of the petitioner in the freedom struggle, is vouched by a co-prisoner and by the great personality Col. Lakshmi Sehgal, there cannot be even a little doubt in the mind of the authorities about the bona fide of the petitioner”.

The judge said, “It is very saddening to note that these authorities have chosen to rely on the irrelevant materials to deny the claim of the petitioner rather than accepting the genuine certificates proving the petitioner’s participation in the freedom struggle, especially when these authorities did not dispute the genuineness of such certificates. The authorities have indulged in fishing out a reason only, to reject the claim somehow”.