Delhi HC issues notice to AAP and Centre on plea against 1968 Civil Defence Act

The Delhi High Court issued a notice to the Delhi Government and Central Government on Monday regarding a petition challenging the constitutional validity of Section 6(2) and Section 14(1) of the Civil Defence Act, 1968. The bench consisting of Justice DN Patel and Justice Jyoti Singh asked the two governments to respond through the Director-General, Directorate of Fire Services, Civil Defence and Home Guards. The matter has been listed for hearing on November 29, 2021.

The plea stated that section 6(2) of the act empowers the Controller of Civil Defence Corp to discharge a member without citing a reason and Section 14(1) of the act puts an absolute bar against availing judicial remedy against any order made in exercise of any power conferred by or under the act. The Petitioner, Farukh Khan said that he served in the Corps since 2014 and completed several training courses during his tenure with the Civil Defence but on March 23, 2020, he was discharged from the Civil Defence Corps without a reason. Khan stated, "The appeal preferred against the discharge order was also rejected without assigning any reason."

Why was the petitioner discharged?

Petitioner sought court's intervention in the matter and direct the Delhi Government to reinstate him in call-out duty. The plea stated that he was told by the Deputy Controller that an FIR has been filed against the executives of JSM NGO and as the petitioner is a secretary of the NGO, his continued presence in Civil Defence was undesirable. The petitioner said that he was not present at the place of incidence and was not named in the FIR. Petitioner's lawyer Rajiv Agarwal said that the act violates the right of the petitioner to practice any profession or to carry on any occupation as guaranteed under Article 19(g) of the Constitution of India. The plea said, "Section 6(2) of the Act excludes the application of the principle of natural justice without citing any exceptional circumstances for which the provision could be applied." The plea further said, "It is submitted that members of Civil Defence are being deployed in DM, SDM and Tehsildar offices to perform the works which are usually done by permanent government employees. For many volunteers, including the petitioner, the honorarium earned by working on call-out duties, are the only means of livelihood. The right to livelihood is a facet of the right to life.”

With ANI inputs