Hearing on a special appeal filed by the State Government against the High Court order of Rs 3.50 lakh penalty on the State for not paying pension and other facilities to freedom fighter Sateshwar Sharma during his lifetime, the division Bench of Chief Justice Ramesh Ranganathan and justice NS Dhanik directed the State Government to clear the pension dues within four weeks. The division Bench also clarified that if the Government fails to pay the due pension to the petitioner within four weeks, it will also have to pay the penalty.

In the past, the High Court single Bench had directed the State Government to pay the pension to Sharma’s widow Rajeshwari Sharma due from 1981 to the present within one month. However, since the State Government did not pay the pension, the High Court imposed a penalty on the State.

According to the case details, Sateshwar Sharma had played an active role in the Quit India movement during 1942. He was an inter college student at that time and had spent about 40 days in jail. He was also removed from the college due to this. In the petition, his widow had stated that her husband had applied for pension and other facilities under the 1975 pension regulations.

The petitioner had further stated that appeals had been made from levels ranging from the State Government to the then prime minister Indira Gandhi but nothing was done. A certificate of the freedom fighter being jailed was also available. Pensions were awarded in similar cases but not in the case of Sharma, it was stated. Waiting in vain for the pension to be provided, the freedom fighter Sateshwar Sharma passed away last year at the age of 100 years. Taking serious cognisance of the case, the single bench of the high court had earlier directed the State Government to clear the pension dues since 1981 within one month.