Coming down heavily on people masquerading as freedom fighters, the Supreme Court has said that those falsely claiming to have participated in the struggle for Independence should be dealt with sternly as they are 'traitors' causing disrespect to the entire nation.

Dealing with a petition pertaining to the Beed district of Maharashtra, where a large number of people have been granted the status of freedom fighters and given pension, a bench comprising Justice Arijit Pasayat and Justice B N Srikrishna appointed a one-man inquiry commission to scrutinise 354 claims.

It directed the Justice A B Palkar Commission to complete the inquiry into the claims of 354 people seeking benefits available for freedom fighters within 4 months and submit the report to the state government for necessary action.

Justice Pasayat, writing for the bench, said the very mention of the word freedom fighter evoked the image of a person who had suffered mentally and physically for unshackling the chains of  foreign rule in our country.

"The normal reaction when one sees such person is one of reverence, regard and respect," he said and added these images get shattered when one heared that with a view to gain financially, false claims were being made.