New Delhi: The Calcutta High Court on March 19 reinstated a personnel from the Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF) posted in West Bengal.
The person is currently posted in the state’s West Midnapore district and he was dismissed over allegations of him conduction a second marriage. However, the court has said that he was dismissed entirely “on the basis of hearsay and suspicion”. The court further observed that if the proceedings continued, then it would cause the personnel professional, personal and emotional hardships.
Found guilty based on heresy
According to Justice Ajay Kumar Gupta, while the court was not acting as an appellate authority while reviewing the disciplinary action against the personnel, it could interfere when the findings were “perverse, based on no evidence, or in violation of settled principles of law”. The man, hailing from Karnataka, has served as a constable of the CRPF for 24 years. It was alleged that he eloped with a woman from Tripura and married her in 2001 despite already having a wife.
A second marriage goes against the rules and conduct rules of the CRPF, and the personnel was dismissed on June 11, 2020. However, the constable claimed of having only one wife and they got married in 1997. The court was informed that mistaken identity and incorrect entries led to the allegation.
The rejected appeals
On September 29, 2020, he unsuccessfully appealed before the deputy IGP, CRPF, Range Yalahanka in Bengaluru. Next year on March 5, a revisional application was rejected and another appeal before a different authority was again rejected on October 6 in the same year. He then moved the Calcutta High Court. Also, the man also allegedly submitted a fraudulent hostel subsidy, and was already punished for it.
The HC noted that the constable was deemed guilty of second marriage by the departmental proceedings based solely on hearsay statements and police reports, and there was no solid proof a valid marriage. The court, as a result, has reinstated the constable in Midnapore.