The Punjab and Haryana High Court has admonished Punjab Special Director-General of Police (DGP), Law and Order, for acting in a casual manner and attempting to deflect from his responsibility while dealing with a dismissed constable plea for reinstatement after he was acquitted in a drugs case.
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“This is not an isolated instance whereas he has passed similar orders on earlier occasions,” Justice Jagmohan Bansal asserted before issuing a stern warning.
“It is hereby made clear that if in future this court comes across similar orders as impugned herein, an adverse opinion would be formed,” the Bench asserted, while asking the State Director-General of Police to step in.
The admonition and direction came in a case where the petitioner, a constable in Punjab Armed Police since 1993, was dismissed from service on the very day an FIR was registered against him under the provisions of the Narcotics Drugs and Psychotropic Substances Act. He was later acquitted by Ludhiana Special Court on the ground that the prosecution had failed to prove the recovery of contraband beyond a reasonable doubt.
Not reinstated in service despite acquittal, the police official initially approached the High Court in 2022. The matter was disposed of with a direction to the appellate authority to re-examine the case in light of the acquittal order and the relevant service rules.
The Special Director-General, in a follow-up order dated July 10, 2024, upheld the original dismissal after considering the constable’s service record and relying on a legal opinion that an acquittal in a criminal case did not lead to automatic reinstatement.
The State counsel, during the course of hearing, expressed his inability before the court to controvert the fact that the Special Director-General of Police did not passed the impugned order in true spirit and “simply rejected claim of the petitioner”.
“This court had directed the Special Director-General of Police to examine findings of the trial court, whereby the petitioner was acquitted and thereafter, reconsider his case in terms of Rule 16.2 read with Rule 16.3 of Punjab Police Rules, 1934. From the impugned order, it is evident that the Special Director-General of Police has acted in a very casual manner and attempted to deflect from his responsibility,” Justice Bansal asserted
Setting aside his order the July 10, 2024, Justice Bansal directed the Director-General of Police to personally re-examine the matter in light of the earlier observations and pass a reasoned order within two months.
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