The Orissa high court on Tuesday ordered the state government to grant Swatantrata Sainik Samman pension (freedom fighter’s pension) to a 101-year-old man who first applied for it in 1981, holding that the government’s claim that he manipulated the electoral rolls to enhance his age by 10 years was a presumption.
Justice Sashikanta Mishra said the government had argued that Brahmanand Jena increased his age by 10 years in the voters’ list to avail the pensionary benefits under the scheme but “not a shred of paper” was placed before the court to justify the above stand.
“Bereft of even a semblance of an inquiry, the conclusion drawn by the authority is nothing but a presumption. Even otherwise, it would be too farfetched to impute such conduct to an old person. This court has on more than one occasion reiterated the view that it is the solemn duty of the State to honour the freedom fighters for the sacrifices made by them to attain freedom from colonial rule and care must be taken to ensure that the genuine claims are not thrown out on trivial grounds,” justice Mishra said.
Jena of Nayagarh district had applied for the pension in February 1981, citing his participation in the Quit India Movement of 1942. The Ministry of Home Affairs forwarded his case to the Odisha government in May 1984, and he subsequently applied directly to the state’s Finance Department in July 1989.
His request remained undecided till October 9, 2002, when the Odisha government stipulated that freedom fighters must have applied for pension before August 27, 1990, and that they must have been at least 18 years old by 1942 – meaning they should have been born before 1924.
Jena submitted affidavits from two freedom fighters – Khali Pradhan and Manguli Parida – that he had “remained underground for more than one year during 1942-43” due to his participation in the Quit India Movement. The District Treasury Officer, Nayagarh, had verified their signatures as authentic.
But Jena’s application was not accepted. He resubmitted the application in March 2019, but authorities remained sceptical about his age claims.
The state government argued that Jena had manipulated his age in the 2002 voter list, claiming he had “managed to enhance his age by ten years” to meet eligibility requirements. It was also noted that while the 2002 list listed him as 82 years old, earlier lists from 1988 and 1995 indicated he was 72, and the 1999 list indicated he would have been only 68 as of January 1, 2002.
