IN THE HIGH COURT OF PUNJAB & HARYANA AT CHANDIGARH CWP No. 19706 of 2010 Date of Decision: 25.02.2011 H.C.Arora ...Petitioner Versus Union of India ..Respondent CORAM: HON'BLE MR. JUSTICE RANJAN GOGOI, CHIEF JUSTICE HON'BLE MR. JUSTICE JASWANT SINGH Present : Mr. H.C.Arora, Advocate-petitioner in person. Mr. O.S.Batalvi, Standing Counsel for Union of India. **** RANJAN GOGOI, C.J.(Oral) This Public Interest Litigation has been filed seeking intervention of the Court to provide free Air travel by Government owned companies to the surviving freedom fighters and their spouses. The number of occasions every year for which free travel should be provided has been left to the discretion of the concerned authority. The contributions of freedom fighters need not be emphasized in the present order. What, however, needs to be mentioned is that the number of such freedom fighters would be extremely small and all of them would come within the age group of eighty which may make many of them unwilling to travel by air. In such circumstances, if such a facility is to be afforded to them, it would be a kind of honour for the freedom fighters in recognition of their services as in case of war heroes and war widows to whom free travel by air has already been provided for. CWP No. 19706 of 2010 [2] Mr. Batalvi, learned Standing Counsel for Union of India has submitted that the matter is under active consideration of the Ministry of Home Affairs, Government of India. If that be so, keeping in mind the limited jurisdiction that the Court would exercise in the present case, we find no justification for keeping this PIL pending any longer. On the contrary we are of the view that this PIL should be disposed of, at this stage, with a direction to the concerned authority in the Ministry of Home Affairs, Government of India to finalize the consideration and pass appropriate orders at an early date. The petitioner who will be provided with a free certified copy of this order may also draw the attention of the Ministry of Home Affairs, Government of India to the present order. PIL stands disposed of in the above terms. (RANJAN GOGOI) CHIEF JUSTICE (JASWANT SINGH) JUDGE 25.02.2011 'ravinder'