The Bombay High Court, in a recent judgement, held that withholding the pension of a freedom fighter was not justified, PTI reported on Monday. A division bench of Justices Ujjal Bhuyan and Madhav Jamdar was hearing a petition by Shalini Chavan, 90-year-old widow of a freedom fighter.

The copy of the order, passed on September 24, was made available on Monday.

In her petition, Shalini Chavan stated that her husband Laxman Chavan had participated in the 1942 Quit India movement against British rule, for which he was imprisoned at the Byculla jail in Mumbai from April 17, 1944 to October 11, 1944.

Laxman Chavan died on March 12, 1965.

Shalini Chavan’s lawyer told the court that she could not avail benefits of a government scheme for widows of freedom fighters as the Byculla prison’s records about Laxman Chavan had been destroyed.

Shalini Chavan had sought pension under the Swatantrata Sainik Sanman Pension Scheme.

The court observed that the available evidence in the matter did not suggest any dispute about Laxman Chavan being a freedom fighter and Shalini Chavan being his widow.

“If that be so, then withholding of freedom fighter’s pension that too for such a long period, is not justified,” the court said, according to PTI.

The court directed Advocate Purnima Kantharia, who was representing the Maharashtra government, to obtain information on the matter and state the official position in the next hearing. The case will next be heard on September 30.

Shalini Chavan added in her petition that she had no financial support after her son’s death, and was struggling to meet her daily needs, PTI reported.

The petitioner also told the court that after her husband’s death, she had applied for his imprisonment certificate in 1966, and the superintendent of the Byculla prison issued it to her. She said that she had submitted all the necessary documents to the government.

Further, Shalini Chavan said that she had appeared before the state government’s freedom fighter high-powered committee in 2002, where she was told that her application for pension would be sanctioned.

However, she has not received any pension till now, Shalini Chavan submitted.

Besides granting of the pension, she has also demanded an ex-gratia compensation of Rs 10 lakh from the Maharashtra government, according to PTI.