All paramilitary personnel should be given HRA: Delhi HC

NEW DELHI:  Stressing that a ‘discriminatory view’ cannot be permitted for personnel of different forces deployed in common areas for grant of House Rent Allowance, the Delhi High Court has said that every personnel in the paramilitary forces shall be entitled to the benefit irrespective of the rank, as per their entitlement.

Dealing with a plea of serving Central Armed Police Force (CAPF) officers against the Ministry of Home Affairs’ decision which limits HRA benefits only to Personnel Below Officer Rank (PBOR) in the armed police forces, a division bench of Justices Suresh Kumar Kait and Saurabh Banerjee directed the authorities to step into the matter within six weeks of the judgment.

The petitioners said a large part of the force is deployed in far-flung locations where there is no proper infrastructure or accommodation for the families. Despite construction of the family accommodations, they and other similar personnel are not provided government accommodation or HRA benefit for keeping their families at different locations, they said.

Setting aside the MHA’s order which refused HRA to petitioners, the court also partly set aside its direction limiting the benefit only to PBORs. “We fail to understand why such policy decisions discriminating within the force should be permitted to continue,” it said.