The Allahabad High Court on Thursday issued a sharp rebuke to the Uttar Pradesh government after taking note of the ordeal of a 1971-war martyr’s widow who has been fighting since 1974 to receive her full land entitlement.
A bench of Justices Atul Sreedharan and Anish Kumar Gupta said that if the facts stated in the petition are true, the situation amounts to a “shocking testimony of the state of affairs of the entire society”.
The petitioner, the widow of a soldier who laid down his life in the 1971 Indo-Pakistan War, told the court that she was sanctioned 5 bighas of land as part of the state’s benefits to families of martyrs. She said she received only 2.5 bighas and has been made to run from one government office to another for more than five decades to obtain the remaining allotment.
The court expressed strong displeasure over the prolonged delay and the alleged failure of authorities to address her grievance.
Quoting the petitioner’s ordeal, the bench observed:
“This is the case where a widow of a martyr of the 1971 war, who is entitled to 5 bighas of land and has been given only 2.5 bighas, has been struggling since the year 1974. If the said averments are correct, it is a shocking testimony of the state of affairs of the entire society.”
The court said the matter reflects poorly on the functioning of the system if a war widow is forced to litigate for what is already due to her.
The High Court directed the Uttar Pradesh government to take all “essential” steps so that the petitioner’s claim is settled “at the earliest point of time”. The bench also ordered the authorities to file a detailed compliance report on the next date of hearing, December 8.
The matter will now be taken up after the state submits its response.
