A 95-year-old freedom fighter who waited 13 years for his pension before moving the high court got a verdict in his favour on Tuesday.

Justice Nadira Patheriya asked the state to send all documents relating to “freedom fighter pension” of Madhabendra Goswami, a resident of North 24-Parganas, to the central government within 15 days.

The judge also asked the Centre to disburse Goswami’s pension with effect from 1981 after receiving the documents from the Bengal government.

“As my client is bedridden, I had requested the court to send a bailiff to his residence so that he could sign the petition to move court. A bailiff went to his house and collected his signature,” said Anjan Bhattacharya, Goswami’s advocate.

Goswami, who took part in Mahatma Gandhi’s Salt Satyagraha and was lodged in Midnapore Jail in 1931-32, first applied for the freedom fighters’ pension in 1995.

The same year, his name was sent to the committee constituted for scrutinising the applications.

The committee sent the application to the state authorities, recommending it as a “fit case for getting pension”. But the state government did not forward Goswami’s name to the Centre.

“Since 1996, my client made several representations before the state government, but to no avail. Early this year, Goswami moved the high court,” said Bhattacharya.

In his submission before the court, Bhattacharya said the scrutiny committee was formed in 1981, headed by a retired judge of Calcutta High Court. “The state government does not have the authority to disregard the recommendations of the committee,” he said.