Tags:
Journalism of Courage
The Central Administrative Tribunal has said that a person cannot be denied entry into police service job merely because he had faced a criminal case.
“It cannot be laid down as a proposition of law that a person would be undesirable for induction in the service force merely because of his involvement in a criminal case in which he subsequently came to be acquitted,” a bench of Justice Dharam Paul Sharma and Shailendra Pandey said.
The Tribunal passed the order on a petition filed by a woman constable challenging the decision of Delhi Police to terminate her job on the grounds of nondisclosure of the fact that she had faced a criminal case in the past.
Asking the Police to reconsider its termination order,the Tribunal said ,”There can be no straight jacket formula in the matters and the respondents would be duty bound to examine each case on its own merits having regard to the totality of the facts and circumstances of the case and then decide as to whether the person is really unsuitable for induction in the service or not.”
In this case,Kavita was appointed to the post of constable (executive) female in Delhi Police in 2009 after clearing the necessary tests.
Later,it was found in the police verification report that she was involved in a criminal case for assaulting a person and was acquitted following a compromise between the parties. She,however,had not disclosed this fact in the forms submitted while applying for the job.
The police department then terminated her job on account of nondisclosure of the information which was expressly sought in the forms.
She then approached the Tribunal saying that her termination was illegal as the case against her was dropped following a compromise.
Granting her relief,the Tribunal asked the Delhi Police to review its decision and referred the Delhi High Court judgement which said that there is a need for suitable guidelines with regard to offences which may or may not prohibit one’s induction into police service.
