KAVENDRA SINGH SIDDHU Vs. UNION OF INDIA

JUDGEMENT

(1.) The petitioner joined the Border Security Force (BSF) on 10 th April, 1997. In December, 2007 he was detected HIV+. The petition avers that, as a consequence, he was placed in the Low Medical Category and was not promoted. Since the day of his detection as HIV+, the petitioner has been posted at Gandhinagar, Kolkata and Delhi. He has been posted at Headquarters, New Delhi since 2017.

(2.) Owing to his affliction, the petition avers that the petitioner is undergoing Mega Highly Active Retroviral Therapy at the base hospital and at the All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS) at New Delhi. Owing to his medical condition, the petitioner was permitted to work from home from 22nd May, 2020, consequent on the onset of Covid-19 Pandemic.

(3.) The petitioner is aggrieved by an order dated 9th June, 2021 which posts him to the 134 Battalion of the BSF at Cachar, Assam, located on the Indo-Bangladesh Border. As travelling to Cachar, Assam and discharging duties would be severely deleterious to the petitioner's health, and could also imperil his life, the petitioner applied for voluntary retirement on 9th June, 2021. The application was returned on the ground that there were certain formal defects therein, and the petitioner re-applied for voluntary retirement on 16th June, 2021. It is a conceded position, ad idem between the parties, that the rules applicable to the BSF permit BSF personnel to apply for voluntary retirement on 90 days' notice. As such, the petitioner sought voluntary retirement with effect from 30th September, 2021. He also addressed a separate representation on 16th June, 2021, seeking suspension of the order transferring him to Cachar, Assam.