CAT declines to stay departmental inquiry against cop

Ramkrishan Upadhyay

Chandigarh, May 19

The Chandigarh Bench of the Central Administrative Tribunal (CAT) has declined to stay department inquiry initiated by the Chandigarh Police against suspended Inspector Rajdeep Singh in an alleged property grab case of Sector 37, Chandigarh.

Rajdeep Singh is one of the 10 accused in the alleged property case against whom the trial in the case has begun at the District Courts in the case registered in March last year.

In the chargesheet, the police alleged that Rajdeep Singh, the then SHO of the Sector 39 police station, did not take any action on an initial complaint filed against the accused who had allegedly forcibly occupied the house in Sector 37, Chandigarh, of a person named Rahul Mehta and also received bribe from other accused.

In the application filed before the CAT, Rajdeep Singh said on the same set of allegations on which sanction order dated July 08, 2021 has been issued against him, one departmental enquiry had also now been initiated by the Chandigarh Police on January 10, 2022, when he was lodged in the Model Jail, Chandigarh.

He said since he was lodged in the Model Jail, Chandigarh, he would not be in a position to properly defend himself in the departmental enquiry at this stage and thus requested to adjourn the enquiry sine die till the conclusion of the trial in the criminal prosecution pending on the same set of facts and allegation.

He said the continuation of departmental enquiry, when he was confined in the Model Jail, Chandigarh, deprived him of an opportunity to free and fair trial. He prayed before the Bench to stay the departmental proceedings till the conclusion of the criminal case.

Arvind Moudgil, counsel for the respondents, submitted that the disciplinary proceedings and the trial before a criminal court could continue simultaneously and there was no bar to continue with the inquiry proceedings during the pendency of the trial before the criminal court.

After hearing the arguments, the Bench, comprising of Suresh Kumar Monga Member (J) and Rakesh Kumar Gupta Member (A), dismissed the application. “The disciplinary proceedings are meant not really to punish the guilty, but to keep the administrative machinery unsullied by getting rid of bad elements. The interest of the delinquent officer also lies in a prompt conclusion of the disciplinary proceedings. If he is not guilty of the charges, his honour should be vindicated at the earliest possible moment and if he is guilty, he should be dealt with promptly according to law. It is not also in the interest of administration that persons accused of serious misdemeanour should be continued in office indefinitely, i.e., for long periods awaiting the result of criminal proceedings,” said the Bench in the order.