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The Delhi High Court on Thursday sought a response from the Delhi government on the petition moved by a Specially-abled person seeking disability pension.
The petitioner alleged that a bribe was demanded by the employee of the Social Welfare Department to get his documents verified. Justice V Kameswar Rao issued notice to the Social Welfare Department of the Delhi Government. Advocate Naushad Khan accepted the notice for the Delhi Government. He submitted that the reply in this matter should be filed by the Director of the Social Welfare Department. The bench then directed the director to file an affidavit within four weeks. The Court also noted that the petitioner has stated in the petition that the bribe was demanded by the staff of the Social Welfare Department. The Court asked the Counsel for the petitioner to give the name of that staff? The counsel replied in affirmative. Then the Court asked the petitioner to file an affidavit stating the name of the staff who demanded a bribe from him. The affidavit shall also state that the first application was rejected and no action has been taken on the second application. Advocate RPS Bhatti, counsel for the petitioner, submitted that the petitioner Amit Goyal is a person with 50 per cent disability and had filed an application for a disability pension on May 8, 2018, under the pension scheme announced by the Delhi Government. He argued that after filing the application the petitioner approached the staff of the Social Welfare Department at Sanskar Ashram, Dilshad Garden, Delhi and furnished all documents to staff. After submitting the documents, when the petitioner visited the said office the concerned staff demanded a three-month pension (Rs 7500) for deciding the matter in favour of the petitioner. The petition stated that in November 2021, the petitioner made an enquiry at helpline number 1076 of the Delhi Government about his application for a grant of disability pension. He was informed that his application had been rejected since his documents had not been verified. The petition also stated that the petitioner again applied for a pension for a disabled person on November 20, 2021. On the second application also the staff of the department demanded a bribe for a three-month pension. A petitioner is a poor person with a 50 per cent disability. The mother of the petitioner expired on May 3, 2019, and his father died on June 3, 2020, due to COVID-19, the petition stated. (ANI)
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