4 cm chest expansion mandatory for police recruitment, says HC

Saurabh Malik

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Chandigarh, April 2

When an advertisement for recruiting 5,000 male constables said the requisite chest measurement was 83 cm unexpanded to 87 cm expanded for the general category and 81 cm unexpanded to 85 cm expanded for the reserve category, there was no way the state could have realised that the use of preposition “to” would lead to a legal battle.

Appearing before the Punjab and Haryana High Court, a rejected candidate contended that Rule 12.15 of the Punjab Police Rules applicable to the State of Haryana nowhere mentioned that the difference in chest expansion was required to be 4 cm.

Taking up the matter, Justice Jaishree Thakur asserted unfortunately Rule 12.15(2) of the Punjab Police Rules for Haryana was not “happily worded”. It did not specify that minimum of 4 cm difference between the unexpanded and expanded chest measurement was required. As such, it was required to be seen as to how the word ‘to’ was required to be interpreted. Justice Thakur asserted ‘to’, a preposition, could be used to indicate a destination or a direction. It could be used with verbs such as give, hand, send and write to indicate the person or thing that received or experienced the object of the verb.

It could also be used in telling time while referring to the minutes before the hour. “The words in the advertisement ‘83 cm unexpanded to 87 cm expanded for the general category and 81 cm unexpanded to 85 cm expanded for the reserve category candidates’ must be read as indicative that the minimum chest measurement unexpanded is 81/83 cm and has to expand up to 85/87 cm. A difference of 4 cm has to be there,” Justice Thakur asserted.

In her detailed order, Justice Thakur observed the petitioners did not have a difference of 4 cm between the unexpanded and the expanded chest. As such, they would not pass the test. Referring to the rules/criteria adopted by other states across the country while recruiting constables, Justice Thakur added a perusal of the same revealed that the formula of minimum chest expansion to the extent of 4/5 cm was being adopted by various governments.

Dismissing the petitions, Justice Thakur ruled the court was bound to apply the “golden rule of interpretation” if the literal meaning of words in the statute led to ambiguity and absurdity. Justice Thakur also quoted American jurist and legal scholar Justice Oliver Wendell Holmes as saying: “A word is not crystal, transparent and unchanged. It is the skin of the living thought and it may vary greatly in colour and content according to the circumstances and the time in which the word is used.”

Rule not ‘happily worded’

Justice Jaishree Thakur asserted unfortunately Rule 12.15(2) of the Punjab Police Rules for Haryana was not “happily worded”. It did not specify that minimum of 4 cm difference between the unexpanded and expanded chest measurement was required.