PIL in HC : ‘Rank-based discrimination in defence canteens’

New Delhi: The Delhi High Court on Tuesday sought a response from the Centre on a PIL petition by some ex-servicemen alleging rank-based discrimination in availing of facilities and benefits of defence canteens.

A bench of Acting Chief Justice Gita Mittal and Justice C Hari Shankar issued a notice to the Ministry of Defence and sought its stand on the allegation in the plea that profits emanating from the unit-run canteens were being enjoyed by the top brass and commissioned officers.

The petition by Voice of Ex-servicemen Society contended that Junior commissioned officers (JCOs), Non-commissioned officers (NCOs) and other ranks, like jawans, were being discriminated against, as there was a cap on their purchase limits, while officer ranks did not face any such difficulty.

Besides, the plea, filed through advocate Umesh Sharma, has also opposed the practice of a separate line for JCOs, NCOs and other ranks (ORs). Another issue raised in the petition is the use of serving personnel to run 3,000 out of the 4,500 canteens.

The petitioner organisation has sought that, instead of serving personnel, ex-servicemen and their dependents be deployed to run the canteens.

The petition has also sought an audit of the canteens' accounts by the Comptroller and Auditor General of India, alleging irregularities in disbursement of the profits earned by these establishments.