Ex-BSF jawan, dismissed over complaint of poor food, approaches court

NEW DELHI: A former BSF constable, who had posted a video online complaining about the alleged poor quality food being served to troops, has moved the Punjab and Haryana High Court, seeking to quash of an order of his dismissal from the service.

The single bench of Justice PB Bajanthri issued a notice to the centre, Director General of the BSF and others, in connection with the petition filed by ex-BSF constable Tej Bahadur on Tuesday, his counsel SP Yadav said here.

Bahadur is a resident of Rattan Kalan village in Haryana's Narnaul district.

"Since no improvement took place in food quality and quantity the petitioner and his BSF colleagues decided to make a video proof of such poor quality and quantity of food for showing it to their senior officers," Yadav said.

"But, the petitioner does not know when his colleagues uploaded such video on the Facebook account of the petitioner," Bahadur's counsel said.

In the petition, Bahadur further submitted that two charge-sheets were issued against him in February 2017 and the Summary Security Force Court (SSFC) passed an impugned order in April 2017 whereby he was "dismissed" from the BSF.

His appeal against the SSFC order was also rejected by the Director General of the BSF in November 2017, the counsel said. "We just raised a point that petitioner was just demanding food in sufficient quantity. But he was dismissed from service," Yadav said.

The court has fixed the next date of hearing on May 28, the counsel said, adding that the petitioner has sought to quash of the impugned order of his dismissal.

"The impugned orders are liable to be set aside being illegal, unjust, biased, arbitrary, violative of Article 21 of the Constitution and against the principle of the natural justice," Yadav said.

Bahadur in January last year had posted the video on Facebook, complaining about the alleged poor quality food being served to the troops posted in inhospitable terrains along the Line of Control in Jammu and Kashmir.

The 42-year-old was seen in the video in his battle fatigue and carrying his service rifle. Mr Bahadur had also alleged that the troops were subjected to "cruelty" as they were served bad quality food, and at times had to go to bed on an empty stomach.

He had joined BSF in 1996.