PULATE RAJESH SOPAN Vs. UNION OF INDIA

JUDGEMENT

(1.) The hearing has been conducted through video conferencing.

(2.) This petition has been filed by the petitioner challenging the order dtd. 26/12/2020 passed by the respondent no.3 placing the petitioner under suspension and the order dtd. 15/3/2021 passed by the respondent no.3 finding the petitioner guilty of having consumed liquor on duty as well as disobedience to a superior officer and consequently, imposing a punishment of imprisonment of 21 days in force custody from 16/3/2021 to 4/4/2021 and deduction in his salary of three days under Sec. 56(1)(g) of the Indo Tibetan Border Police Force Act, 1992.

(3.) It is the case of the petitioner that he joined the Indo Tibetan Border Police Force (in short, 'ITBP') as a Constable/GD in the year 2011 and has had a spotless service record. In the year 2019, he was transferred to the 39th Battalion, Lakhnawali Camp, Greater Noida. During the month of December 2020, he was posted at the Rashtrapati Bhawan. During this period, he had made repeated complaints about the quality of food being served to the personnel, however, no fruitful result came out of such complaints. The petitioner claims that on 25/12/2020, during the shift briefing by the Shift Commander at the Rashtrapati Bhawan, the petitioner again raised the issue of unhealthy food served to them. The other personnel also made similar complaint. The Shift Commander, instead of answering the grievances, with the mala fide and vexatious motive, alleged that the petitioner is acting under influence of alcohol and on this pretext, the petitioner was taken for a medical checkup. No doctor was present at the medical centre and therefore, no test was conducted on the petitioner.