Taking serious view of a 72-year-old war widow having to languish without residence or agricultural land since 1965, the Bombay high court on Tuesday directed the state to ensure that not only she, but even other people in similar circumstances, are granted relief expeditiously.
A division bench of Justices Abhay Oka and AS Chandurkar has directed the chief secretary to ensure that remedial measures are taken for granting relief to other war heroes and/or their families. "We hope and trust that the chief secretary takes immediate steps for grant of relief to those persons who are placed as similar as the petitioner (Jadhav)," observed the judges.
While imposing a cost of Rs75,000 on the government, the HC has directed the district collector, Ratnagiri, to allot 300 sq mtrs of residential land and 10 acres agricultural plot to Indira Babaji Jadhav, whose husband died in the 1965 Indo-Pakistan war.
In Oct 2013, dna had reported how Jadhav had to knock the doors of the HC after failing to get justice, despite letters from ex-PM Lal Bahadur Shastri and army chiefs. She filed the petition through advocates Avinash Gokhale and Mayuresh Modgi.
"We do not find it necessary to record detailed reasons as to why the state should not be saddled with the cost of Rs75,000," observed the judges. The court added: "The government is free to recover the cost amount from the officers concerned for the negligence."
The district collector, Khed, Ratnagiri, has been directed to allot 300 sq mtrs of residential plot to Jadhav within six weeks. However, the judges asked Jadhav to pay 50% of the occupancy costs as per the ready reckoner rates of 1998, which are approx Rs30,000. This amount will have to deducted from the cost imposed on the govt, and the remaining amount has to be credited in her pension account.
Gokhale informed the judges that Jadhav has been admitted in a hospital in Pune. The judges have said that it will be the obligation of the collector to get the form for allotment duly filled by Jadhav and initiate process for allotment.
The HC has also directed the collector to give 10 acres of agricultural plot free of cost to Jadhav as per the govt resolution of 1971. This has to be allotted within 2 months.
It is the GR of 1971 and subsequent GR of 1998, which provided that agricultural plot of land be allotted to war heroes and their families.
Jadhav, who now resides in Pune, lost her husband Babaji, a sepoy in the Maratha Light Infantry, Belgaum, on October 27, 1965 in Ladakh. At the time, Jadhav was pregnant, but later delivered a stillborn baby, said advocate Gokhale. With no support coming in, Jadhav took up tailoring, before getting the job of a primary teacher in Ratnagiri.
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