7 years after death, High Court orders Punjab police official’s reinstatement

Saurabh Malik

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Chandigarh, September 2

Justice came too late for a dismissed Punjab Police official. More than seven years after his death, the Punjab and Haryana High Court has ordered the constable’s reinstatement with full back wages and other consequential benefits after holding that he was falsely implicated “for dubious and motivated reasons”.

Among other things, the Bench during the course of hearing was told that the official had been falsely implicated by a senior police officer, who wanted to grab property in Mohali. Allowing his son’s plea filed through counsel Dhiraj Chawla with advocate Akshit Dhiman, Justice Gurvinder Singh Gill of the high court also set a four-month deadline for compliance of the court’s directions.

The case has its genesis in order dated October 10, 2005, vide which the petitioner’s father serving as a constable was dismissed from service. The Bench was told that the official was involved in an FIR registered two days earlier at the Civil Lines police station in Amritsar in a case alleging gang rape, criminal conspiracy and other offences under Sections 376-A, G, 342, 323, 506 and 120-B of the IPC.

He was initially held guilty for “having conspired to commit crime in respect of the FIR. But the order was set aside by the high court. The order attained finality as the state’s SLP against the judgment was dismissed.

Emphasising that not every acquitted employee was automatically entitled to reinstatement, the Bench pointed out that it was essential to examine the circumstances surrounding the alleged offense and the reasons for acquittal.

The Bench asserted the petitioner’s father was dismissed from service unjustly, and the reasons for his dismissal had been found to be baseless and malicious. Referring to the Division Bench judgment acquitting the police official and other accused, the Bench asserted the findings reflected that the petitioner’s father had been falsely implicated. It was done in an attempt to grab property, while exercising undue influence and power by the senior police officer.

“Having regard to the factum of acquittal of the petitioner’s father and the observations recorded by the Division Bench of this Court, which attained finality inasmuch as even the SLP against the judgment stands dismissed, it goes without saying that the petitioner’s father was dismissed from service on account of no fault on his part and the reasons which had weighed at that time were not justified and had also been found to be falsely created,” the Bench observed, while adding that the police official was deemed to have been reinstated into service.

Pay full back wages

The official having been falsely implicated for dubious and motivated reasons, the respondents are directed to reinstate him with full back wages and to extend other consequential benefits flowing from such reinstatement to the family within four months from today. — Justice Gurvinder Singh Gill