The Delhi High Court on Wednesday agreed to hear a PIL seeking “martyr” status for paramilitary personnel who “sacrificed their life in the line of duty”. The plea, filed by advocates Abhishek Choudhary and Harsh Ahuja, came up for hearing before the bench of Chief Justice G Rohini and Justice Jayant Nath. The bench has now transferred the plea to the bench that regularly hears matters pertaining to the armed forces. [related-post] The plea is now expected to be heard on July 29. “Give equality to paramilitary forces on a par with Army, Navy and Air Force in granting status of martyr to the deceased paramilitary forces personnel,” said the plea, which sought equal financial and other benefits to the families of paramilitary personnel on par with the three main branches of defence forces. The petition has also sought creation of a martyrs memorial or monument to honor the sacrifice made by the personnel. According to the Public Interest Litigation filed in Delhi High Court, there is currently no official definition of the term “martyr” and queries through RTI and parliamentary questions to the Home and Defence ministries had revealed that there is “no such proposal under consideration” to give martyr status to the Central Armed Police Forces personnel.
