High Court quashes suspension orders of Punjab IGP Paramraj Singh Umranangal

Chandigarh, February 2

Rapping the state for not caring to follow the mandatory course of action, the Punjab and Haryana High Court today quashed multiple orders, placing under suspension the services of Punjab Inspector General of Police (IGP) Paramraj Singh Umranangal. The state was also directed to allow the petitioner to join the services forthwith.

State Can’t pick and choose rules

The state cannot pick and choose the rules of their suitability and pass the orders without following the procedure as mentioned in the rules. — Division Bench of Justice Sureshwar Thakur and Justice Sudeepti Sharma

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“The state cannot pick and choose the rules of their suitability and pass the orders without following the procedure as mentioned in the rules”, the Division Bench of Justice Sureshwar Thakur and Justice Sudeepti Sharma ruled.

Referring to a plethora of judgments, the Bench also made it clear that the services of a person could not be kept under suspension for an indefinite period in the garb of pending inquiry/investigation in criminal proceedings.

Umranangal had moved the court through senior advocate DS Patwalia with counsel GS Patwalia and SS Saron for quashing the impugned judgment and order dated February 1, 2023, passed by the Central Administrative Tribunal, whereby his claim for reinstatement was rejected. The Bench, during the course of hearing, was told that the petitioner was arrayed as an accused in an FIR registered in August 2018, related to the Kotkapura police firing following sacrilege incidents.

Taking up the matter, the Bench asserted the government did not bother to follow the mandatory procedure in the petitioner’s case for reasons best known to the state. It was “very unfortunate” to observe that the petitioner, on the one hand, was awarded two gallantry awards for meritorious service in combating terrorism.

“On the other, the state government placed the petitioner under suspension since February 18, 2019, till date i.e. for a period of almost five years without following any procedure, without any extension, without any recommendation of central review committee, without any confirmation by the Central Government, which doubts the intention of the officers who are passing the suspension orders one after the other. The state government is expected to adhere to the rules and the procedure as laid down by the framers.” The Bench observed.