Constable Tej Bahadur Yadav dismissed from BSF

April 19, 2017

New Delhi, Apr 19: BSF on Wednesday dismissed Constable Tej Bahadur Yadav, whose video post on poor food being served to security personnel deployed on Line of Control (LoC) went viral, citing gross indiscipline.

The action against Yadav came after a Court of Inquiry (CoI) found Yadav guilty of violation of service rules by taking his grievances to public domain rather than raising it with his superior officers.

“BSF court has found him guilty on certain charges of indiscipline. He has been dismissed from service today, following provisions of BSF Act and rules. Individuals have options to appeal against the verdict in three months,” a senior BSF official said.

The Constable had earlier applied for voluntary retirement but the force had recalled the order it on the ground that a Court of Inquiry on his claims and disciplinary proceedings against him was pending. Yadav's family had alleged that he was being "threatened and tortured mentally" and was under arrest.

The video posted on Facebook in early-January by Yadav detailing about the poor quality of food had went viral, prompting the Prime Minister's Office and Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) to intervene.

Soon after the video went viral, the BSF had pointed fingers at Yadav, saying he was an "alcoholic" and court-martialled. The BSF also said that he was allowed to continue in service after the force thought about his family.

The BSF was of the view that there was no shortage of rations at any post and that security personnel deployed along the borders never complained about food. It also issued fresh guidelines for maintaining high quality of food for its personnel.

The force also directed its special snoop teams to check on the morale of the personnel and said said instances of complaints being voiced via the social media were being dealt with "strictly".

Around half-a-dozen such videos emerged soon after Yadav's post complaining about various grievances. A CRPF personnel came out with a video post addressed to Prime Minister Narendra Modi demanding parity on facilities with military.

The posts of military personnel also came to fore protesting against the 'sahayak' system and it prompted Army chief Gen Bipin Rawat to issue a stern warning not to use social media for grievance redressal.

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‘Pay the worker before his sweat dries’: Madras High Court cites Prophet Muhammad’s teaching while ordering settlement of dues

News Network

December 21,2025

Invoking the teachings of Prophet Muhammad—“pay the worker before his sweat dries”—the Madras High Court has directed a municipal corporation to settle long-pending legal dues owed to a former counsel. The court observed that this principle reflects basic fairness and applies equally to labour and service-related disputes.

Justice G. R. Swaminathan made the observation while hearing a petition filed by advocate P. Thirumalai, who claimed that the Madurai City Municipal Corporation failed to pay him legal fees amounting to ₹13.05 lakh. Earlier, the High Court had asked the corporation to consider his representation. However, a later order rejected a major portion of his claim, prompting the present petition.

The court allowed Thirumalai to approach the District Legal Services Authority (DLSA) and submit a list of cases in which he had appeared. It also directed the corporation to settle the verified fee bills within two months, without interest. The court noted that the petitioner had waited nearly 18 years before challenging the non-payment and that the corporation could not be fully blamed, as the fee bills were not submitted properly.

‘A Matter of Embarrassment’

Justice Swaminathan described it as a “matter of embarrassment” that the State has nearly a dozen Additional Advocate Generals. He observed that appointing too many law officers often leads to unnecessary allocation of work and frequent adjournments, as government counsel claim that senior officers are engaged elsewhere.

He expressed hope that such practices would end at least in the Madurai Bench of the High Court and added that Additional Advocate Generals should “turn a new leaf” from 2026 onwards.

‘Scandalously High Amounts’

While stating that the court cannot examine the exact fees paid to senior counsel or law officers, Justice Swaminathan stressed that good governance requires public funds to be used prudently. He expressed concern over the “scandalously high amounts” paid by government and quasi-government bodies to a few favoured law officers.

In contrast, the court noted that Thirumalai’s total claim was “a pittance” considering the large number of cases he had handled.

Background

Thirumalai served as the standing counsel for the Madurai City Municipal Corporation for more than 14 years, from 1992 to 2006. During this period, he represented the corporation in about 818 cases before the Madurai District Courts.

As the former counsel was unable to hire a clerk to obtain certified copies of judgments in all 818 cases, the court directed the District Legal Services Authority to collect the certified copies within two months. The court further ordered the corporation to bear the cost incurred by the DLSA and deduct that amount from the final settlement payable to the petitioner.

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