Mulayam gets HC notice over IAF pay row

BANGALORE, January 3: A two-judge Vacation Bench of the Karnataka High Court has issued notices to Defence Minister Mulayam Singh Yadav and ...

BANGALORE, January 3: A two-judge Vacation Bench of the Karnataka High Court has issued notices to Defence Minister Mulayam Singh Yadav and Chief of Air Staff Air Chief Marshal S K Sareen on a Public Interest Litigation (PIL) seeking a court direction “to set right disparities in pay allowances among Air Force staff and hold the respondents responsible and accountable.”

The Bench, comprising Justice H N Tilhari and Justice Bannurmath, admitted the PIL on December 30. The next date of hearing hasn’t been listed yet.

Filed by advocate R Prahalada Rao, and G L Chandrashekar, president of the Society for Tacit and Observant Public (STOP), the petition seeks a stay on the recommendations of the Fifth Pay Commission relating to flying staff allowance.

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Chandrashekar, in his petition, says he served the Indian Air Force from 1973 to 1988 and retired as a Junior Warrant Officer.

The petition alleges that the “partisan recommendations” expose the “unprofessional and shortsighted leadership qualities of the establishment”.

Incidentally, the Defence Ministry recently announced the setting up of a committee, chaired by the Defence Secretary, to look into the disparities, entertain complaints and file a report within three months.

The petition alleges that the respondents failed to take proper steps even as protests spread to most of the Air Force units across the country.