New Delhi, Dec 15 (PTI) There is no term as "martyr" or"shaheed" in the Army or the police and instead a soldier or apoliceman killed in action is called a "battle casualty" or"operations casualty" respectively, the ministries of defenceand home have submitted before the Central InformationCommission.
The issue surfaced after an RTI applicant approached theUnion home ministry seeking to know the meaning and detaileddefinition of word "shaheed" (martyr) according to the law andthe Constitution.
He also asked about the legal provisions to ensurerestriction on its misuse and punishment for violation.
The application was transferred to different officials ofthe home and defence ministries but when the applicant couldnot get a satisfactory response, he approached the CIC, thehighest appellate body in matters relating to the Right toInformation Act.
The respondents from the ministries of defence and thehome affairs were present and heard, Information CommissionerYashovardhan Azad said.
"The respondent from the Ministry of Defence stated thatword 'shaheed' or 'martyr' is not used by the MoD. Instead theone used is 'battle casualty'. The respondent from theMinistry of Home Affairs stated that in the MHA the word usedis 'operations casualty'," Azad said.
Quoting the submissions, he noted that the decision todeclare cases of 'battle casualty' and 'ops' were taken aftera report of a court of inquiry in both the matters.
"After hearing the respondents and the perusal of therecord, the commission finds that the averments made by boththe respondents have duly explained the correct usage of theterms and directs the respondents to send a revised reply tothe appellant accordingly," he said. PTI ABSSC.
This is unedited, unformatted feed from the Press Trust of India wire.