‘Can’t keep employee under indefinite suspension’: Punjab and Haryana High Court orders to reinstate DSP after 3 years

Approver reinstated

• The investigating agency moved an application before the trial court, which declared the petitioner as approver.
• He is now a prosecution witness, and the trial is pending against the other accused.
• He was suspended by an order dated July 22, 2022, and served a memorandum of charges on July 28, 2023.
• The petition deserves to be allowed and accordingly allowed.
• The police authority concerned is directed to reinstate the petitioner within two weeks from the date of the court order.

FIR, investigation

• The petitioner was posted as the Faridkot DSP in 2022.
• In June 2022, a First Information Report (FIR) was lodged under the Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances (NDPS) Act, 1985, against Surjit Singh and 900 grams of opium were recovered from him, along with a scooter.
• The investigation found that Surjit had purchased opium from one Pishora Singh, who started running from pillar to post to save himself.
• Pishora approached Nishan Singh, who, along with Hira Singh, the cousin of the petitioner, contacted Assistant Sub-Inspector (ASI) Rashpal Singh.
• The ASI offered Rs 7-8 lakh to Inspector Binderjit Singh for not implicating Pishora, who refused to do so and continued with the investigation.
• Pishora was arrested in July 2022, and during the investigation, he disclosed that he had asked for help from the petitioner through the ASI.
• It was alleged that the petitioner had demanded a bribe through Hira Singh, and the deal was settled at Rs 10 lakh, which was to be kept with the cousin of the petitioner.

• During the investigation, 250 grams of opium and a sum of Rs 1 lakh were recovered from the residence of Pishora, and a sum of Rs 9.97 lakh was recovered from the house of Hira, the petitioner’s cousin.
• During further investigation, it was allegedly found that the petitioner DSP used to aid drug peddlers and safeguard them from legal action.
• On account of these reasons, he was arrested in July 2022 under the Prevention of Corruption Act, 1988, and the NDPS Act.
• The petitioner was placed under suspension from the date of arrest.
• A disciplinary proceeding was initiated against him, and for the said purpose, on July 28, 2022, a chargesheet was served upon him.
• He was also implicated in another FIR of July 15, 2022, under the Prevention of Corruption Act, and the Indian Penal Code (IPC), and was arrested under the said FIR.
• The Home Department, through an order dated January 1, 2025, decided not to reinstate him due to the said criminal cases.

Submission of parties

• Appearing for the petitioner, advocate Sangram Singh Saron argued that his client, the DSP, was arrested in July 2022 and suspended from service.
• He further claimed that the police, after completing the investigation, filed a chargesheet by the end of July 2022.
• He added that police authority, after filing the chargesheet, was required to extend the period of suspension; however, suspension continued without extension.
• It was further added that the petitioner was allowed to declare him an approver and that he is a prosecution witness instead of an accused, whereas DIG Inderbir Singh and ASI Rashpal Singh are accused in the said case.
• On the contrary, the deputy advocate general Aman Dhir submitted that the petitioner was served a memorandum of charges. However, the inquiry officer has not been appointed.