Delhi HC grants interim relief to trooper facing salary deduction

The Delhi High Court on Tuesday granted interim relief to a constable of the Sashastra Seema Bal (SSB) as it directed the paramilitary force pay him the entire salary without any deductions till the next date of hearing.

A bench of Justice Hima Kohli and Justice Pratibha Rani asked the SSB to file an an affidavit within four weeks explaining the reason as per which almost the entire salary of constable Manish Kumar has been deducted for the last seven months.

The court also directed SSB not to deduct his salary till March 14, the next date fixed for hearing.

The court was hearing a plea of the SSB trooper who has claimed that the force was "harassing" him by illegally deducting 80 per cent of his monthly salary for the expense incurred on his kidney transplant.

Kumar has claimed that the force was "harassing and coercing" him to repay the amount given to him by labelling it as a loan, even as it actually was part of his medical reimbursement.

He said this had forced him to support his ailing mother, newborn daughter and wife on a meagre 5,000 per month apart from repaying loans taken from the bank and family friends for the transplant.

Kumar had joined the SSB as a constable in 2006. He was given hard postings continuously for six years, including a posting at an altitude of 10,000 feet for a sustained period and claimed that his health deteriorated as a result of these postings in mountainous and high altitude regions.

In 2014, doctors at Sir Ganga Ram Hospital advised immediate kidney transplantation and gave Kumar an estimate of Rs 11 lakh for the procedure.

The SSB Director General sanctioned Rs 6 lakh as temporary loan for his treatment while the remaining amount was managed by Kumar through a loan taken by his father from a bank, and from family and friends.

Kumar said that instead of reimbursing the amount, the SSB was deducting nearly 80 percent of his salary.

--IANS

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