Bengaluru: The Karnataka High Court has directed the state government and forest department to disburse the promised reward amount to 72 personnel who were part of the Special Task Force (STF) involved in the operation against forest brigand Koose Munisamy Veerappan.
The order was passed by a single-judge bench headed by Justice Sachin Shankar Magadum while hearing petitions filed by A. Srinivasa of Hanur taluk in Chamarajanagar district and others. The court instructed the authorities to release the reward amount within three months in accordance with the government order issued on July 8, 2005.
The High Court observed that there cannot be discrimination between personnel who had already received compensation and the present petitioners. Referring to an earlier judgment delivered by a coordinate bench on August 12, 2024, the court clarified that the petitioners are equally entitled to the reward benefits.
Earlier, another bench of the High Court had directed the government to release compensation to 17 STF members. The court had then remarked that Veerappan was not neutralised by only a few officers on a single day, but that several personnel had risked their lives for years by gathering intelligence and participating in operations leading up to the encounter.
Veerappan, one of India’s most notorious sandalwood smugglers and forest outlaws, was killed in a joint STF operation on October 18, 2004, after evading security forces for several years across the forests of Karnataka and Tamil Nadu.
Following the operation, the then Director General of Police had recommended rewards for STF personnel on January 24, 2005. The Karnataka government subsequently approved the proposal through an official order issued on July 8, 2005.
Under the reward scheme, personnel who had served in the STF for more than three years were promised Rs 3 lakh each. Those who served between two and three years were to receive Rs 2 lakh, personnel with one to two years of service were eligible for Rs 1 lakh, while those who served for less than a year were to receive Rs 50,000.
The STF team included retired forest guards, watchers, drivers, deputy conservators of forests, assistant forest guards and range forest officers who participated in the anti-Veerappan operations.
During the hearing, the state government argued that due to a shortage of funds, the reward amount could only be paid to six STF personnel who were physically present at the encounter site on the day Veerappan was killed. However, the High Court rejected this argument.
The court strongly criticised the government’s selective approach and observed that promises made by the state carry significant value and credibility. It stated that once the government had assured rewards to all eligible personnel, it could not later withdraw or dilute that commitment.
The judgment is expected to bring relief to several former STF personnel who had been fighting a prolonged legal battle seeking recognition and payment for their role in one of the country’s most high-profile anti-bandit operations.
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