Bombay HC Restores Freedom Fighter Family Pension to Dependents

udgment dated 5.10.2026 of the High Court of Bombay, Bench at Aurangabad, in Writ Petition No.4687 of 2023 of Smt. Lata Rangrao Deshpande  vs. Union of India and others

The petitioner’s father was freedom fighter and recipient of pension  from the Central & State Governments.  He had two wives – first wife Pramila and Lata.  Pramila was the nominee of her husband for the pension. The names of both the wives were mentioned in the Pension Payment Order.  However, in the sanction order issued by the respondent no.1, the name of Pramila was mentioned.

Pramila died on 15.6.2019 but she did not claim pension till her death.

On 27.9.2021, the name of the petitioner’s mother Lata was substituted in place of Pramila as the nominee to receive family pension.  However, she was not paid the said pension till her death on 2.2.2023.

The petitioner has, therefore, claimed pension from February 2019 to January 2023.

Merely because the name of the second wife i.e. the mother of the Petitioner, appears in the claim application and not in the identification documents, the Respondents have denied family pension to the dependent of the freedom fighter i.e. the mother of the Petitioner. The Respondents have admitted this fact in their Affidavit-in-reply. We thus find that, the Respondents have taken a hyper technical approach leading to frustrate the very object of providing the family pension to the dependents of freedom fighters. In this view of the matter and in peculiar facts and circumstances of the case, as none on behalf of first wife has claimed family pension, the Petitioner being legal heir of second wife of deceased Rangrao, he is entitled to the family pension to the dependent of freedom fighter. We are, therefore, inclined to allow this Writ Petition