india

Updated: Feb 01, 2019 07:18 IST

The Delhi high court on Thursday struck down the provisions which fixed 57 years as the age of retirement for officers below the rank of commandants of three of the Central and Allied Police Forces (CAPFs) namely CRPF, ITBP and BSF and held that it is discriminatory and violative of the Indian Constitution.

A bench of Justice S Muralidhar and Justice Sanjeev Narula said that “no justification is given by the Centre in discriminating among the CAPFs” and noted that there is no rationale to the classification in the retirement age of the officers of the various paramilitary forces.

It directed the ministry of home affairs to take all consequential steps for implementing the court’s judgment within four months.

“This court is of the view that the petitioners have made out a case of discrimination, that is violative of Articles 14 and 16 of the Constitution, based on empirical data, that the fixing of the age of superannuation of members of the ranks of commandant and below in the ITBP, CRPF, BSF and SSB different from those in the ranks above that of the commandant is not based on a rational criteria and that such differentiation has no nexus to the object sought to be achieved,” it said in a 70-page judgment.

The court’s decision came while deciding a bunch of pleas where officers below the rank of commandant in the Indo-Tibetan Border Police (ITBP), Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF) and Border Security Force (BSF) had challenged their retirement age. They had sought that their superannuation age should be enhanced from 57 years to 60 years in line with the commandants.

Stating that such discrimination would lower the morale of the forces, the court said, “The classification has no rational nexus to the object sought to be achieved, which is keeping high the morale of the CAPFs, who are performing yeoman service and supplementing the efforts of the armed forces and the police throughout the country.”

“The CAPFs have become an indispensable part of the security apparatus in the country. It is difficult to think that the government, whether at the Centre or at the states, would be able to combat the serious challenges of safety and security and of its people without the participation and the sacrifices made by members of the CAPFs.

“Their morale definitely needs to be preserved. Discrimination in the matter of the age of retirement amongst members of two wings of the CAPFs will contribute to lowering the morale rather than bolstering it,” the bench said.

The bench said its decision would also be applicable to all the other CAPFs, including Sashastra Seema Bal (SSB) if they have the same rules on the superannuation age as in the ITBP, CRPF and BSF.