Reinstate 4 cops: HC

Saurabh Malik

Tribune News Service

Chandigarh, January 23

The Punjab and Haryana High Court has rapped Haryana for passing illegal, arbitrary and unsustainable dismissal orders in the case of four cops booked for dacoity but acquitted by the trial court.

Nearly four years after they were shown the door, Justice Rajiv Narain Raina ordered their reinstatement with all consequential benefits after observing that the high and mighty found the administration’s favour and obtained reinstatement while the “underlings” were before the court craving for justice.

The judgment came on a petition by Vijay Pal and three cops for quashing the orders of their dismissal from service. The case has its genesis in an FIR lodged on March 11, 2010, by Rajat Aggarwal at Panipat city police station, alleging dacoity of Rs 6 lakh from his shop. On the basis of suspicion and without identification by any witness, the petitioners were arrested on March 15, 2010. They remained under custody for 18 months. The trial eventually ended in their acquittal on November 6, 2012.

After hearing senior advocate Sanjay Kaushal for the petitioner and the rival contentions, Justice Raina asserted a chargesheet was issued shortly before the conclusion of a protracted criminal case when the trial was all but done and awaiting judgment. The only reason the court could think of was that the police department was conscious that the trial was going to fail. The only way to keep the petitioners out of service was to embroil them in disciplinary proceedings, which was not a fair thing to do. Justice Raina added the punishing authority fell in grave error in observing that the prosecution had been won over.

Justice Raina asserted a co-accused, Ashok Kumar Sheoran, was reinstated in July last year. “What was once a very grave accusation has turned into a verdict of not guilty. What the police could not achieve in the criminal trial cannot be allowed to be achieved in a domestic inquiry on the same evidence, same incident and charge.” Justice Raina added the petitioners had been wronged. They were innocent of the crime and not guilty of misconduct. The impugned orders were not sustainable.