Other States - Orissa   

Court nails fake freedom fighter

CUTTACK: The Orissa High Court, in a sensational order, has asked the State government to recover all the government benefits Harihar Sahu of Nayagarh district has received as freedom fighter since 1997.

The order came when the court found that Sahu was a fake freedom fighter and managed to find a place in the elite group by producing some bogus documents. He was only four years old when India became free in 1947.

Sahu, 65, of Khandpada area found a place in the list of some 50 freedom fighters identified in 1997 during the golden jubilee celebrations of India’s Independence. He managed to do this with the help of some bogus documents. But some in his village moved he court in 1999 when government officials failed to rectify the mistake.

Duryodhan Parida and six others in their petition alleged that Sahu was a child when India got Independence and he had never taken part in any freedom struggle. “Although Sahu claims to have plunged into freedom struggle, there is no proof of it,” the petition alleged.

The court, after taking cognizance of the matter, had ordered for an inquiry into the issue in 2000. The inquiry report submitted by the government to the court in June 2006 revealed that Sahu was actually a four-year-old boy in 1947 and there was no proof of his participation in the freedom struggle. In June 2006, the court had ordered for a stay on further disbursement of his allowances and pension and had asked the government to recover the entire amount Sahu had received till that period as a freedom fighter.

However, challenging the June 2006 order of the court, Sahu moved the same court earlier this year praying to vacate the stay on his freedom fighter allowances.

The Bench of Chief Justice A.K. Ganguly and Justice Indrajit Mohanty, disposing off Sahu’s petition on Monday, refused to vacate the stay and reiterated its earlier order asking the government to recover the amount from the fake freedom fighter.

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