NEW DELHI: The Delhi High court on Friday asked the Centre to allow the wife of the Border Security Force (BSF) jawan, who went public on social media alleging that poor quality food was being served to soldiers, to meet and stay with him for two days at the base where he is currently posted.
A Division Bench of justices G S Sistani and Vinod Goel allowed BSF jawan Tej Bahadur Yadav’s wife Sharmila Devi’s plea for staying with her husband and said, “We should not get into logistics of any kind, the wife must be allowed to meet him and let us burst the bubble.”
Additional Solicitor General (ASG) Sanjay Jain, appearing for the Centre, informed the court that Tej Bahadur Yadav is not under any illegal confinement and has been only shifted to another battalion — 88th Bn HQRS — at Kalibari, Samba in Jammu.
The Bench further directed the ASG to make all possible arrangements for Sharmila Devi to meet her husband and that there should be no difficulties while she visits the place.
The court’s direction came after Sharmila Devi moved the court with a habeas corpus plea, alleging that her husband is untraceable and the family has been unable to contact him for the last few days.
In her plea Sharmila Devi stated that since February 7, she was not able to speak to her husband and even the BSF chief did not reply to the representation sent by the family in this regard.
Yadav had on January 9 posted a video on Facebook which showed a meal box comprising a watery soup-like dal, which he said had only turmeric and salt and a burnt chapatti.
He had claimed this was what jawans were served at mealtime on duty at places including the Line of Control (LoC) with Pakistan and that they often went to bed on an empty stomach.
After the video went viral on social media, the Prime Minister’s Office had sought a detailed factual report on it from the Union Home Ministry and the BSF. A PIL was also filed in the Delhi High Court seeking a direction to the government to depute higher officers to supervise cooking of proper healthy food and its distribution in BSF units.
It sought a status report regarding the quality of food served to soldiers along the LoC.
The High Court had issued notice on the petition to various paramilitary forces, including the BSF.