New Delhi: Days after Home Minister Amit Shah introduced the CAPF (General Administration) Bill, 2026 in the Rajya Sabha, the Alliance of Ex-Paramilitary Forces Welfare Association (AAPWA) has decided to submit a petition to President Droupadi Murmu appealing her to not grant presidential assent for the Bill terming it as “Black Bill”.
Talking to ETV Bharat here on Saturday, Ranbir Singh, AAPWA general secretary said that the petition will be signed by more than one lakh people including serving cadre officers, veterans, and families of the Central Armed Police Forces (CAPFs).
“We, the serving and retired personnel of the Central Armed Police Forces (CAPFs) comprising the CRPF, BSF, ITBP, SSB, CISF, and Assam Rifles will approach President Droupadi Murmu with an urgent appeal for her intervention as Supreme Commander to uphold the Supreme Court’s mandate on OGAS, ensure justice regarding the Old Pension Scheme (OPS), and withhold support for the CAPF (General Administration) Bill, 2026,” said Singh.
He said that the CAPF (General Administration) Bill, 2026, is fundamentally detrimental to the morale, career progression, and leadership of the CAPF cadre. Despite blood and sacrifice, the bureaucratic apparatus continues to systematically deny the paramilitary forces their rightful status and dues, he said.
“We seek the President’s urgent constitutional intervention regarding two critical legal battles and a newly introduced legislative threat that actively subverts the interests of our Jawans and Cadre Officers,” Singh said.
The Subversion of the Supreme Court’s Final Mandate on OGAS Status
Singh said that after a 13-year-long legal struggle, the Hon’ble Supreme Court delivered a historic, landmark judgment on May 23 last year, unequivocally declaring that Group ‘A’ Executive Cadre Officers of the CAPFs are an Organized Group ‘A’ Service (OGAS) and have been since 1986.
“The Court ordered the Government to amend Service Rules, complete a cadre review, and phase out deputation posts within strict timelines. This judgment attained absolute finality when the Ministry of Home Affairs’ Review Petition was dismissed by the Hon’ble Chief Justice of India on 28.10.2025. Instead of implementing the apex court’s orders, the Government deliberately missed the deadlines, faced a Contempt Petition, and is now resorting to statutory intervention to bypass the highest court of the land and deny career progression to 13,000 cadre officers,” said Singh.
The threat to the Old Pension Scheme (OPS) parity
According to Singh, the Armed Forces of the Union have rightly been exempted from the National Pension System (NPS). However, CAPF personnel, despite facing identical combat and operational hazards, were discriminatorily classified as “civilian employees.”
“On 11.01.2023, the Delhi High Court corrected this historic wrong, ruling that CAPFs are definitively “Armed Forces of the Union” and directed the Government to implement the Old Pension Scheme (OPS). Instead of granting this equitable relief, the Government appealed to the Supreme Court, where the High Court’s order is currently stayed. The deep fear among the 20 lakh CAPF families is that the Government will utilize the same playbook it is using for the OGAS issue: dragging its feet through endless litigation and ultimately utilizing statutory maneuvers to deny veterans the financial security of the OPS,” Singh said.
The Legislative Assault on CAPFs: The CAPF-GAB 2026
Singh said that the introduction of the Central Armed Police Forces (General Administration) Bill, 2026 (CAPF-GAB 2026) in the Rajya Sabha on March 25, 2026 is a direct assault on the dignity and morale of our forces.
“By explicitly seeking to override the Hon’ble Supreme Court’s hard-won mandate on our OGAS status, this “Black Bill” seeks to permanently codify the dominance of deputationist IPS officers in top command posts. By reserving 100 percent of DG/SDG posts and the vast majority of ADG/IG posts for officers outside the cadre, this Bill institutionalizes the severe career stagnation we have fought against for decades,” said Singh.
He said that it sends a wrong message to every jawan and cadre officer: that their blood, sweat, and lifelong service in the harshest terrains will never qualify them to lead the very forces they give their lives for.
“We implore you (President Murmu) not to support or grant assent to a bill that so blatantly subverts the interests of your frontline soldiers,” said Singh.
Singh said that soldiers who are expected to give their lives for the nation cannot be left at the mercy of bureaucratic indifference and endless litigation against their own Government.
“When the highest courts of the land rule in favor of the forces, those judgments must be honoured, not circumvented through legislative loopholes,” he said.
