Mumbai: Administrative Tribunal orders reinstatement of three railway policemen suspended for ‘extortion’

After Varma complained to the police, a preliminary inquiry was initiated and the constables were found guilty of misconduct and placed under suspension on May 5 by the DCP, through provisions of the Bombay Police (Punishments and Appeals) Rules, 1956.

Following this, a chargesheet was filed against the accused constables and a departmental inquiry was conducted, during which Varma allegedly stated that he had no complaint against them. After the departmental inquiry was completed in June 2018 and their suspension continued even though no final order was passed, the constables approached the MAT, challenging their “illegal” suspension.

While a notification issued by the Maharashtra Home Department in 2011 appoints respective police commissioners as authorities to pass suspension orders, the respondents referred to a circular passed by the Commissioner, Mumbai Railway Police, in 2003, in which the powers were delegated to DCP rank officers.

In the case of the constables, the DCP, in his reply to the MAT, stated that he had apprised the commissioner while passing the suspension order. Advocate Arvind Bandivadekar, who represented the suspended constables, argued that the Railway Police Commissioner’s 2003 circular could not supersede the Home Department’s 2011 notification, thereby making the suspension “illegal”.

He also argued that that the constables be reinstated as the departmental inquiry was yet to reach a conclusion.

A B Kololgi, the presenting officer for the Railway Police, countered that the departmental inquiry had found the constables guilty and that the department was on the verge of submitting its final report.

However, MAT member, Judge A P Kurhekar did not find merit in the arguments presented by the respondent and sided with the petitioners while observing that the DCP is not the competent authority to pass suspension orders.

“…There is no escape from the conclusion that the DCP is not competent to suspend the Applicants. On this ground alone, the suspension order deserves to be quashed,” observed Judge Kurhekar, setting aside the suspension order.