Berhampur (Odisha), June 26 (PTI) A 62-year-old widow from Odisha's Ganjam district, who was fighting a legal battle with the state government for the last 12 years for pension and gratuity after the death of her husband in 2000, has finally won. Shantilata Patnaik of Chudangapur in Ganjam district got the provisional pension and gratuity, earlier this month when a Special Leave Petition (SLP) filed by the state government was dismissed by the Supreme court, said her advocate Sidharth Prasad Das. Odisha High Court had ordered settlement of her claim within a month while disposing a contempt application recently, he said. Patnaiks husband Binodananda Patnaik was working as an assistant surgeon in the office of the executive engineer, Harabhangi irrigation division at Adava in Gajapati district, when he died on August 20, 2000. He had earlier filed a case in the State Administrative Tribunal (SAT) for regularisation of his job. He died while the case was pending before the SAT, Das said. After the death of her husband, Shantilata continued to fight the case seeking gratuity along with the family pension. When the SAT ordered in favour of the petitioner, the state government moved the High Court against the tribunal order. The High Court also ordered in favour of the widow in 2009, said her advocate. (More) PTI COR SKN CR CR
