SC slams govt over freedom fighters’ pension

The Supreme Court has blasted the government for its apathy in granting pension to confirmed freedom fighters.

The Supreme Court has blasted the government for its apathy in granting pension to confirmed freedom fighters.

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A bench headed by Justice Harjit Singh Bedi dismissed an appeal filed by the Tamil Nadu government against a Madras High Court order on granting freedom fighters’ pension to A Manickam Pillai.

“This appeal is an example and reflection of the way we treat our freedom fighters inasmuch that while we applaud their contribution to the fight for freedom, deny them a pension,” the apex court said.

The Tamil Nadu government had challenged a June 2006 Madras HC verdict declaring Pillai to be a bona fide freedom fighter eligible for pension.

The HC had asked the state to pay pension to Pillai on the ground that two district collectors and a district level screening panel had said he was a freedom fighter and was jailed during the British period.

The state opposed the pension on the ground that Pillai’s plea was not supported by a certificate by a co-prisoner.