NEW DELHI: Travelling in a night bus in the dacoit-infested Banda district of Uttar Pradesh nearly four decades ago, a station officer of UP police single-handedly fought a gang of armed dacoits which had waylaid the vehicle.
When the dacoits fired at him, Ram Yadav whipped out his service revolver and fired at the gang, killing their ringleader. Unnerved by this, the dacoits fled.
While the incident happened on March 10, 1986, the Banda SP on Aug 3, 1989, recommended Yadav’s name for the President’s gallantry medal. Yadav eagerly waited the recognition, but it never came. With passage of time, govt appeared to have forgotten about it but Yadav kept writing to his seniors.
Decades later, on inquiring with the department concerned, Yadav learnt that the file containing the SP’s 1989 recommendation had been lost. He then filed a writ petition before Allahabad HC, but court dismissed it saying it was barred by limitation as almost four decades had passed. He then moved SC.
A bench of Justices Surya Kant, Dipankar Datta and Ujjal Bhuyan subsequently sought response from UP govt and also appointed senior advocate Rana Mukherjee as amicus curiae for a dignified resolution.
On Wednesday, UP govt counsel Ruchira Goel informed the bench that the DGP after due verification of Yadav’s documents had agreed to grant a commendation certificate to him.
The bench said Yadav was honest enough to inform SC that he just wanted recognition of his bravery and not money. But the bench felt Yadav should be rewarded for his bravery that went unrecognised for 38 years, and using its discretionary powers, SC directed the state govt to give Yadav an honorarium of Rs 5 lakh.