Sharwan Kumar Singh v. The State of Bihar

Judgment

3. The State of Bihar through the Chief Secretary, Govt. of Bihar, Patna. Chief Secretary, Govt. of Bihar, Patna. The Department of Home (Special Branch) Bihar through the Secreary, Govt. of Bihar, Old Secretariate, Bihar, Patna.

4. The Secretary, Advisory Council, J.P. Senan Saman Yogna Department of Home (Special Branch) Govt. of Bihar, Old Secretariate, Bihar, Patna.

5. The Director-Cum-Secretary, J.P. Senan Saman Yogna Department of Home (Special Branch) Govt. of Bihar, Old Secretariate, Bihar, Patna. The Secretary, Advisory Board, J.P. Senan Saman Yogna Scheme, Patna. The Deputy Secreary-Cum-Deputy Director (Administration)-Cum- Incharge, J.P. Koshang Shell, The Department of Home (Special Branch) Govt. of Bihar, Old Secetariate, Patna. The District Magistrate, Bettiah, West Champaran. Superintendent of Police, Bettiah, West Champaran.

10. The Superintendent, Mandal Jail, Bettiah, West Champaran.

11. The Sub Divisional Magistrate, Bettiah, West, Champaran. ... ... Respondent/s

====================================================== Appearance : For the Petitioner/s For the Respondent/s ====================================================== CORAM: HONOURABLE MR. JUSTICE MOHIT KUMAR SHAH ORAL JUDGMENT Mr.Choudhary Shyam Nandan, Adv. Mr. Dhurendra Kumar, AC to GP-5 : : Date : 07-08-2024 The present writ petition has been filed for grant of pension under the J.P. Senani Samman Yojna.

2. The brief facts of the case, according to the petitioner, are that in the year, 1974, there was student agitation spread all over Bihar, which was later on spreaheaded by the Lok Nayak Patna High Court CWJC No.16845 of 2023 dt.07-08-2024 J.P.Narayan and came to be known as Sampurn Kranti Movement / J.P. Movement, during the course whereof, many students were arrested and sent to jail. It is the case of the petitioner that the petitioner was also arrested on 9.8.1975 under Section 69(1) of the Defence India Rules (DIR), 1915. It is further stated that the petitioner was arrested on 9.8.1975 and sent to Mandal Kara, Bettiah, whereafter he was released from jail by an order, passed by the Chief Judicial Magistrate, Bettiah, on 17.9.1975.

3. The learned counsel for the petitioner has also submitted that the Respondents had formulated a scheme i.e. J.P.Senani Samman Pension Yojna, whereby monthly pension was to be granted to the participants of J.P. Movement, which had taken place in the year, 1974-75. The petitioner had also applied in the year, 2016, for grant of pension under J.P. Senani Samman Pension Yojna, however, till date, he has not been granted pension.

4. Per contra, the learned counsel for the Respondents has submitted, by referring to the counter affidavits filed in the present case, one on behalf of the Respondent No. 10 and the other on behalf of the Respondents No. 1 to 7 that it is not in dispute that J.P. Movement was a mass movement and in order Patna High Court CWJC No.16845 of 2023 dt.07-08-2024 to acknowledge the contribution of people, who had participated in the J.P. Movement and had sufferred on account of their incarceration, it was resolved to grant monthly pension, appreciation certificate, momentos etc. to all such persons, hence, the Home (Special) Department, Government of Bihar, had issued a resolution dated 5.6.2009, wherein eligibility criterias have been mentioned. The eligibility criteria, mentioned in the aforesaid notification dated 5.6.2009, provides that in order to be eligible for grant of pension under the J.P. Senani Samman Pension Yojna, it is necessary for the concerned person to have been detained under the Maintenance of Internal Security Act (MISA) or Defence of India Rules (DIR) during the J.P. Movement in between the period 18.3.1974 to

21.3.1977. As far as the amount of pension is concerned, those persons, who remained in custody under MISA or DIR for more than six months, are to be given a sum of Rs. 5,000/- per month and those, who remained in custody for one month to six months under MISA or DIR during the J.P. Movement, in between the period 18.3.1974 to 21.3.1977, are to be given pension at the rate of Rs. 2500/- per month. The aforesaid J.P. Senani Samman Pension Yojna was liberalised, vide Resolution dated 15.7.2015 and an alternative method was provided for Patna High Court CWJC No.16845 of 2023 dt.07-08-2024 verification of those whose incarceration period was not being verified on account of non-availability of jail record, to the effect that in such cases, pension would be given to those persons on the basis of certificates given on affidavit regarding such persons by two J.P.Senani of District, who have been detained under MISA / DIR for six months and are getting pension, certifying the incarceration period of such person on the basis of FIR / Court’s certificate / certificate, issued by the District Magistrate and thereafter, upon recommendation being made by the Advisory Board.

5. The learned counsel for the Respondents has further submitted that as far as the case of the petitioner is concerned, the Home Department (Special Branch), Government of Bihar, Patna, vide letter dated 19.10.2023, had requested the Advisory Board to furnish a report with respect to the claim of the petitioner, whereupon the Advisory Board, after due scrutiny of the matter, had sent a detailed report dated 8.11.2023, which reads as follows:- “1. Jh flag dk vkosnu bl dk;kZy; esa fnukad 19-02-2016 dks izkIr gqvk gSA vkosnu ds lkFk layXu eaMy dkjk] csfr;k ds izek.k i= dk lR;kiu izfrosnu x`g foHkkx ¼dkjk½ ds i=kad& 5952] fnukad 11-07-2019 }kjk bl dk;kZy; esa izkIr gqvk gSA mDr i= ds lkFk layXu eaMydkjk] csfr;k ds i=kad&91@tsy] fnukad 18-01-2019 }kjk izfrosfnr fd;k Patna High Court CWJC No.16845 of 2023 dt.07-08-2024 x;k gS fd Jh ljou dqekj] firk& lR;ukjk;.k izlkn] ftyk if'pe pEikj.k /kkjk& 69¼1½ Mh0vkbZvkj0 ds rgr fnuakd 09-08-1975 ds dkjk esa izos’k ik;s ,oa fnukad& 17-09-1975 dks dkjk ls eqDr gq,A

2. vkosnd }kjk ts0ih0 lEeku isa’ku gsrq lefiZr vkosnu esa mudk uke Jo.k dqekj flag firk dk uke& Lo0 lj;qx flag vafdr gS tcfd dkjk v/kh{kd] eaMy dkjk] csfr;k us tks izfrosnu Hkstk gS mlesa canh dk uke ljou dqekj ,oa firk dk uke& lR;ukjk;.k izlkn vafdr gSA bl izdkj vkosnu ,oa dkjk izfrosnu ds vuqlkj vkosnd ,oa muds firk ds uke esa Li"V fHkUurk gS vkSj nksuks vyx&vyx O;fDr izrhr gks jgs gSA

3. vkosnd }kjk lefiZr vk/kkj dkMZ la0& 243421116471 esa Hkh mudk uke ,oa firk dk uke dkjk vfHkys[k ls fHkUu gSA vr% ts0ih0 lEeku isa'ku gsrq mudk ekeyk fopkj ;ksX; ugha gSA”

6. Thus, it is submitted by the learned counsel for the Respondents that upon examination of the claim of the petitioner, it has been found that the name of the petitioner, as depicted in his application, is Shrawan Kumar Singh and his father’s name is late Saryug Singh, whereas the Jail Superintendent, Mandal Kara, Bettiah, has sent his report, wherein the name of the prisoner has been mentioned as Sarwan Kumar and his farther’s name has been mentioned as Satyanarayan Prasad. Therefore, not only there is a mismatch in the name of the petitioner, but also his father’s name does not tally, hence, the claim of the petitioner for grant of J,P. Senani Patna High Court CWJC No.16845 of 2023 dt.07-08-2024 Samman Pension Yojna was not found tenable, hence, has been rejected.

7. I have heard the learned counsel for the parties and perused the materials on record. This Court finds that apparently, there is mismatch in the name of the petitioner as also in the name of his father, as mentioned in the application form, vis-a-vis the jail records, which has not also been controverted by the petitioner, inasmuch as no rejoinder affidavit has been filed in the present case, hence, fallaciousness of the claim of the petitioner is writ large from the records, thus, the eligibility criteria, mentioned in the aforesaid notifications dated 5.6.2009 and 15.7.2015, issued by the Home (Special) Department, Government of Bihar, Patna, have not been satisfied / fulfilled by the petitioner, inasmuch as neither any cogent proof has been produced by the petitioner nor the detention of the petitioner under MISA / DIR, in between the period 18.3.1974 to 21.3.1977, has stood corroborated from the Jail records, thus, he is not entitled to grant of pension under the J.P. Senani Samman Yojna.

8. Having regard to the facts and circumstances of the case and for the foregoing reasons mentioned hereinabove, I do not find any merit in the present writ petition, hence, the present Patna High Court CWJC No.16845 of 2023 dt.07-08-2024 writ petition stands dismissed. (Mohit Kumar Shah, J) Ajay/- AFR/NAFR CAV DATE Uploading Date Transmission Date NAFR NA 13.08.2024 NA