HC seeks reply to suicide by personnel of the Army, Police

New Delhi, Nov 7 (UNI) The Delhi High Court today issued notices to the Centre and Ministries of Defence and Home Affairs on a PIL seeking direction to the authorities to improve the service conditions in the Army, Para-military Forces and Police to prevent officials from committing suicide.

A bench of acting Chief Justice Vijender Jain and Justice Kailash Gambhir asked the authorities to file their replies to the allegations in the petition by March 1, 2007, the next date of hearing.

Advocate Sunil Kumar, in his petition, said ''There is growing violence in the Defence Forces, Para-Military Forces and Police, causing soldiers and policemen committing suicide or killing their superior officers.'' As per the Army sources, more than 100 armymen committed suicide every year since 2001, said the petition.

''It has been observed that there is a sense of dissatisfaction among the personnel and it is growing in our Armed Forces. It is a serious matter,'' he said.

The petition has sought the direction of the court to the government for instituting a committee to study the selection and training, prevailing harsh conditions at the place of postings such as in Jammu and Kashmir and North East and the internal conditions in the Forces so as to recommend for better service conditions.

UNI PAT YA RN1808