‘Soldiers made to take care of high-ranking officer’s dog’: Top BSF official to Delhi High Court

With the PIL seeking the court’s direction to the authorities to carry out a detailed inquiry into the facts and that action be taken against “misutilisation of manpower” of BSF/CAPFs, the division bench of Chief Justice D K Upadhyaya and Justice Tushar Rao Gedela issued notice to BSF and MHA, seeking their response to the contentions raised by Yadav.

According to Yadav’s plea, “It is virtually a practice in vogue wherein various soldiers of BSF are diverted from performing official duties on the border or on law-and-order duties and are detailed for performing domestic functions in the private houses of high-ranking officers.”

“Such gross misuse of manpower, especially at a time when there are over 83,000 vacancies in CAPFs and Assam Rifles, poses a serious threat to national security and law and order apart from causing an undue strain on the public exchequer,” Yadav has submitted through his advocate Surender Singh Hooda.

Yadav has relied on an office memorandum (OM) dated September 21, 2016, which was issued “to ensure that various privileges such as personnel at residences, vehicles, personal security etc. be withdrawn within a period of one month after retirement”. It has also been highlighted that subsequent to the OM, the BSF compiled a list of as many as 131 personnel who were performing duties unauthorizedly with various retired police and CAPF officers but, according to Yadav, “the BSF authorities have failed to take any action for withdrawing the unauthorized manpower or to recover payment from retired officers in respect of such unauthorized manpower use”.