Four Railway Regiments to be Disbanded: Officers Move HC

They argue that these TA Railway Regiments play a crucial role in supporting the Army to maintain strategic railway routes during times of internal and external emergencies, as well as railway strikes. The 1101 Railway Engineers' Regiment (TA) is responsible for maintaining the railway link between Punjab and J&K, both of which are strategically important regions. This regiment was originally slated to be disbanded by 31 March 2023, but now the date has been moved to 23 April.

The Indian Railways fund six such regiments, and four of them are to be disbanded. The railway authorities, including the Chairman Railway Board, have been deliberating on this move for approximately two years in consultation with Army HQs and Territorial Army HQs.

The petitioners, who are railway employees seconded to this regiment, are all between the ranks of Colonel and Sapper. They are requesting the quashing of the order to disband the regiment and have highlighted that these Railway Engineer Regiments of Territorial Army are funded by the Railways but work under the Ministry of Defence. They argue that the order to disband these regiments has unsettled the long-settled and established provision of these specialised units.

The petitioners are also asking for the order of discharge, dated 2 February 2023, to be quashed. Some of the petitioners have been ordered to be discharged from their military service due to the disbandment of the 1101 Railway Engineers' Regiment (TA), which has directly affected their morale. They claim that the orders of disbandment and discharge are perverse, illegal, whimsical, and irrational, and that they have been passed without proper appreciation of the prevailing and continuously subsisting threat perception, both external and internal security, along the highly sensitive Northern-Western Border up to Udhampur (Northern Command). This border constitutes the area of operation of this particular Regiment, based in Chandigarh.