The Patna High Court has set aside the dismissal of a Bihar Police constable accused of assaulting another constable with a knife while intoxicated, finding that the departmental proceedings contained neither the alleged victim's testimony nor an injury report or medical evidence establishing intoxication.

A Single Judge Bench of Justice Dr. Anshuman held that even if the constable's admission that a scuffle had taken place was accepted, dismissal from service was “extremely excessive”.

The petitioner had joined the Bihar Police as a constable in 1984 and had served for more than 38 years. According to him, he had received several rewards during his service. The proceedings arose from an incident in July 2018, when the petitioner was posted for Shrawani Mela duty in Banka district. An FIR was registered alleging that, while intoxicated, he abused and assaulted another constable, Upendra Kumar Singh.

Departmental proceedings were subsequently initiated against him. The disciplinary authority found the charges proved and dismissed him from service in July 2021. His departmental appeal was also rejected.

The State defended the action, submitting that the departmental enquiry had been conducted in accordance with law and that the charge against the petitioner was found proved on the basis of the supervision and medical reports. It also argued that departmental proceedings were independent of the criminal trial and were governed by the standard of preponderance of probabilities.

The High Court, however, found that the material forming part of the departmental proceedings did not support the findings recorded against the petitioner. It noted that although the allegation was that the petitioner attacked Upendra Kumar Singh with a knife and caused injuries, Singh did not give evidence during the departmental proceedings and no injury report was produced.

Similarly, while the petitioner was alleged to have been intoxicated, there was no medical report, breath analyser report, blood test or urine test on record to establish the allegation. The Court observed:

“This Court, upon perusal of the concluding part of the impugned order, is very much surprised that without any material on record, neither the alleged injured person having come forward, nor any injury report being available, nor any material to establish that the petitioner was under intoxication, the disciplinary authority has imposed the punishment….Upon perusal of the memo of appeal, it transpires to this Court that the only fact accepted by the petitioner himself is that a scuffle took place between him and Upendra Kumar Singh. However, Upendra Kumar Singh has not come forward at any stage. This Court is of the view that imposing the punishment of dismissal in such circumstances is extremely disproportionate and unacceptable.”

The Court further noted that the petitioner's service tenure would otherwise have ended on January 31, 2023, though he had already been dismissed with effect from July 27, 2021. It was not satisfied with the findings of either the disciplinary or appellate authority, particularly in the absence of the alleged victim's testimony, an injury report or any test establishing intoxication. The Court added that even if it were accepted that a scuffle had taken place, the punishment imposed was “extremely excessive”.

Accordingly, the matter was remanded to the competent Superintendent of Police to pass a fresh order after considering the absence of the relevant evidence. The authority was directed to decide the matter within 90 days.

Case Title: Tilak Dhari Singh v. State of Bihar and Ors.

Case Number: Civil Writ Jurisdiction Case No. 10213 of 2022

Appearance: Mr. Upendra Mishra, Mr. Sanjeeb Kumar Sanju, Mr. Ravi Kumar and Mr. Bhaskar Sandilya for the Petitioner. None appeared for the State.

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