Date of approval decides pension

Hyderabad: The Hyderabad High Court said that those declared eligible on benefit of doubt for the Swatantra Sainik Samman Pension for participating in the anti-Nizam movement shall be eligible from the date of approval and not from the date of application.

Justice P. Keshava Rao was dismissing a petition by Mr K. Lakshmi Narsaiah of Nalgonda district challenging the action of the Union home ministry in not granting pension from the date of application.

Mr Narsaiah submitted an application for the pension in 1985. The special screening committee recommended his case in 1989. The Union home ministry said he had not produced primary or secondary evidence; his case was considered by the committee based on personal knowledge certificates and camp in-charge certificates.

Justice Keshava Rao relied on an order of the Supreme Court in Union of India and another versus KaushaIaya Devi which laid down that in cases where the claim is allowed on basis of oral statements of some other co-workers and not on the basis of the document based records, the pension should be granted from the date of the order.