more-in Madurai The path to freedom struggle was not embedded with roses, but thorns. This did not stop the freedom fighters as they were firm in their ambition for an independent India, achieved in 1947, observed the Madurai Bench of Madras High Court while directing the Central government to grant the freedom fighters pension to a nonagenarian. A Division Bench of Justices Pushpa Sathyanarayana and T. Krishnavalli observed that the Central government in collaboration with the State governments should conduct a survey to find out the living freedom fighters, who were the torchbearers of the nation and extend the fruits of the scheme. It is painful to see that the authorities are making selfless nationalists to undergo rigorous process of red-tapism, quoting hyper technical rules. The court dismissed the appeal of the Ministry of Home Affairs against a single bench order and directed the grant of the freedom fighters pension under the Swatantrata Sainik Samman Pension scheme within four weeks. The Centre had appealed against the order of the single bench claiming that the documents submitted by the nonagenarian were not sufficient to prove his eligibility for the scheme. K. Duraisamy of Thanjavur, the nonagenarian freedom fighter, claimed that he had served in the Indian Independence League in 1943 in Myanmar (formerly Burma) for which he had received a certificate from the All India Burma Tamilian Association in 1964. He sought the pension from the Centre claiming that the State government had recognised his contribution towards the freedom struggle and granted him pension. He claimed that he was eligible for the Central freedom fighter pension as well.

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