NEW DELHI: Paramilitary personnel who sacrifice their lives in the line of duty may be given 'martyr' status on par with the armed forces, with the government today informing Delhi High Court that such a proposal was under its "active consideration".
The submission was made before a bench of justices S Ravindra Bhat and Deepa Sharma by Additional Solicitor General (ASG) Sanjay Jain during the hearing of a PIL seeking 'martyr' status for paramilitary forces on par with army, navy and air force.
"We learnt that a Committee of Secretaries had taken a decision in 2011 contrary to what they are asking (martyr status). We then wrote to the Cabinet Secretary to reconsider it and now the matter is under active consideration," Jain told the court.
The bench, thereafter, asked the government to file their response through an affidavit and listed the matter for further hearing on November 23.
The court on July 29 had sought the response of the Centre, Department of Personnel and Training and Ministry of Defence on a plea filed by advocate Abhishek Choudhary for equality to paramilitary and police forces at par with army, navy and air force in granting status of 'martyr' or 'shaheed' to the deceased personnel.
The response was sought after the Centre had informed the court that it had no such scheme as sought in the PIL.
Chaudhary, in his plea, had also sought a direction to the government to grant equal financial compensation/benefits to paramilitary armed forces personnel on par with army, navy and air force.
The petition also sought a direction to maintain proper records of paramilitary armed forces personnel who have sacrificed their lives till date and publish their names in an official gazette, notification or book.
It claimed that even after 31,895 sacrifices in the last 53 years on the line of duty, the honour of being called a 'martyr' still eluded the jawans and officers of paramilitary and police forces in the country.
The petition has also claimed that the paramilitary and central forces have made numerous representations in this regard to the Home Ministry and state governments for these personnel.