NEW DELHI:  With a rise in the number of litigations against the Central Reserve Police Battalion (CRPF), the paramilitary force has strengthened its legal wing by creating 63 new posts in 34 CRPF bases. Sources in the government said that more than 5,000 cases involving CRPF are pending before various courts in the country. Although most of the cases are related to service matters, many also involve human rights violations. 

More than 1,000 cases are filed every year against the CRPF, sources added. The CRPF—the largest paramilitary force in the world — has 235 battalions, around 3.5 lakh personnel. The new posts created in the legal wing include ranks of assistant commander, inspector, sub-inspector and assistant sub-inspector. The CRPF headquarters where the new positions have been created include Srinagar, Jammu, Guwahati, Chhattisgarh, Odisha, Allahabad, Jharkhand and Tripura.

Explaining why service issues crop up against CRPF in huge numbers, a senior government functionary said most service litigations pertain to posting matters. “CRPF personnel are deployed in difficult areas most of the time—in Naxal-hit areas, Kashmir and North East — for maintenance of internal security. There are a lot of complaints about CRPF personnel not getting desired rest,” the official said, requesting anonymity.The official said that there is no proper provision of rotation in postings in difficult and peaceful areas which causes a lot of tension among the personnel. 

Why so much litigation
“There are few peace postings available and 80 per cent of the time the personnel get field postings... This leads to litigation as they want peace postings,” said a senior government official