The Ministry of Defence along with other ministries had stated that the term Martyr does not include the three services and the ministry had not issued any such order or notification using the term Martyr that means the persons who are killed when under the duty. It was also submitted that the such status was not given to the armed forces personnel who often sacrifice themselves when on duty and therefore such status cannot be provided to the paramilitary forces. The Government was replying to the High Court of Delhi on the plea on an issue claiming martyr status to CAPF personnel that was misconceived.
The bench consisted of justice S Ravindra Bhat and Justice Deepa Sharma who were informed by the Central Government that the prayer to give martyr otherwise called as shaheed to Central Armed Police Forces (CAPF) similar to that of the other services like army, navy and air force was understood wrongly and such status was not really given to the other three services. The Government submitted an affidavit stating its stand on the issue and said that a notification in this regard was not published so far by the Ministry of Home Affairs with respect to persons serving under CAPF and Assam Rifles. The Court was dealing with a Public Interest Litigation filed by Advocate Abhishek Choudhary and Advocate Harsh Ahuja who asked to treat persons serving under paramilitary forces as well as the police forces equally with that of armed forces in providing martyr status to persons killed on duty.
The Government submitted that there is no such scheme in the other three services. The Central Government also pointed out that the petitioners were misconceived with some of the terms. It also denied to accept that the persons under the paramilitary forces were not honored as deserved by them. The affidavit was filed jointly by Ministry of Home Affairs, Ministry of Defence and Department of Personnel and Training.
Adv. Jewel Panicker
