"Commit Suicide, Get Rs 1 Crore; Setting A Trend?" High Court To Delhi Government

New Delhi: Speaking on the Delhi government's decision to compensate the family of ex-Armyman Ram Kishan Grewal, the Delhi High Court said the government was "setting a trend--commit suicide and get Rs 1 crore compensation".

The court's comments were over the decision of conferring the status of martyr on the ex-Armyman, who had allegedly committed suicide in November last year over the issue concerning the implementation of the "One Rank One Pension" (OROP) scheme. The Arvind Kejriwal government also approved the proposal to award Rs 1 crore as compensation to the family of the ex-serviceman.

"Imagine you are setting a trend, commit suicide and get Rs 1 crore compensation. And, when you are giving Rs 1 crore compensation to his family, where is the question of compensatory employment," a bench of Acting Chief Justice Gita Mittal and Justice C Hari Shankar said.

The observation was made by the court while rejecting two public interest litigations against the Delhi government's decision to accord the status of martyr to Ram Kishan Grewal.

Stating that the Lieutenant Governor was yet to take a decision on the matter, the court said the petitions were premature and not maintainable at this stage.

Ram Kishan Grewal allegedly committed suicide in November last year by consuming poison. This July, the AAP government approved the Rs 1 crore compensation to his family and also offered a job to his family.

The court also dismissed another PIL which opposed the city government's decision to declare as martyr Rajasthan based politician-cum-farmer Gajendra Singh Kalyanwat, who had allegedly hanged himself during an anti-land bill rally by the AAP at Jantar Mantar on April 22, 2015.

The court said the petition was devoid of merit and the petitioner was unable to place the legal explanation of the term "martyr".

With inputs from PTI