In a ruling that reaffirmed the principle of equal treatment within India’s paramilitary forces, the Kerala High Court has struck down an order by the Director General of the Central Industrial Security Force (CISF) that had barred retired CISF personnel from accessing liquor through Central Armed Police Force (CAPF) canteens.
Justice N. Nagaresh held that the 2024 directive denying liquor quotas to retired CISF officers was “palpably unsustainable” and violated Article 14 of the Constitution, which guarantees equality before the law. The Court observed that all CAPF wings—including the CRPF, BSF, and ITBP—perform duties of equal national importance, and therefore, there was no rational basis for treating retired CISF members differently.
The CISF leadership had justified its earlier decision on the ground that granting such privileges could lead to undisciplined demands from serving officers, potentially undermining force discipline. The High Court dismissed this line of reasoning outright, pointing out that retired officers are no longer subject to the same service discipline structure.
“It cannot be said that CISF personnel require a different yardstick in the matter of security and discipline,” Justice Nagaresh remarked, adding that excluding only one group of ex-servicemen from a benefit extended to all others “offends the equality clause of the Constitution.”
Consequently, the Court directed that retired CISF personnel be allowed to purchase liquor through the Central Liquor Management System (CLMS) from canteens run by any CAPF unit, including those of the CRPF. The CISF Director General was ordered to share data of retired members with other CAPF liquor canteens to ensure seamless inclusion in the system.
The judgment came in response to petitions filed by the CISF Ex-Service Welfare Association and several retired officers, who argued that the CISF’s policy contradicted the Ministry of Home Affairs’ welfare framework, which grants uniform post-retirement benefits across all paramilitary forces.
The Court agreed, calling the CISF’s stance “grossly discriminatory” and contrary to the Union government’s stated policy of parity among CAPFs. With this ruling, retired CISF personnel now stand on equal footing with their counterparts from other paramilitary forces—finally ending what the Court described as an “unjust exclusion.”
