Himachal High Court dismisses cop’s plea against penalty

Legal Correspondent

Shimla, April 25

The police are a disciplined force and if an official is a habitual absentee, there is no reason to ignore this fact at the time of imposing penalty.

This was held by the High Court while dismissing a petition filed by a constable challenging the order passed on October 27, 2020, whereby he was awarded “compulsory retirement” from the service under the provisions of the HP Police Act, 2007, for remaining absent from duty for 599 days.

Justice Tarlok Singh Chauhan observed, “The petitioner, being member of the disciplined force, could not have taken his job so casually and callously, so as to disobey the orders of his superiors, by not joining the duties for more than 599 days, without any justifiable reason.”

The court observed, “Despite ample opportunities given to the petitioner, he exhibited no chance of improvement. In such circumstances, it was incumbent upon the official respondent to weed out incorrigible and indisciplined officer, yet the official respondents had been considerate in not dismissing the petitioner from the service, as was otherwise proposed in the show-cause notice, but had awarded him compulsory retirement, that too after taking into consideration the future of the family and young children of the petitioner. The penalty, in the given facts and circumstances, is neither harsh, nor proportionate to the alleged misconduct.”

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