HEMRAJSINHJI PRAVINSINHJI Vs. INSPECTOR GENERAL OF POLICE AHMEDABAD

JUDGEMENT

(1.) This is a petition under Article-226 of the Constitution of India to quash the order of dismissal from service passed against the petitioner by the Inspector General of Police dated 24/01/1959 and confirmed by the State Government on 15/02/1960 and to direct the respondents to reinstate the petitioner in service. The facts giving rise to this petition may be briefly stated.

(2.) The petitioner was appointed a Sub Inspector in the Bombay Police Force in 1951 and was posted in Ahmedabad on 16/08/1933. He was charged with being in possession of liquor on the allegation that the bottles of liquor were found in an attached case on the platform of the Ajmer Railway Station which belonged to the petitioner or was under his control. The defence of the petitioner was that the attached case neither belonged to him nor was under his control and that these bottles belonged to one Mahendrasinh who was working as his orderly. Both the petitioner and Mahendrasinh were tried before a Magistrate who convicted Mahendrasinh and acquitted the petitioner by an order dated 20/08/1953. Notwithstanding this order of acquittal departmental proceedings were commenced against the petitioner and a charge was framed on the 20/01/1954 charging him with grave misconduct in that on 14/08/1953 the petitioner bought a number of bottles of foreign liquor from some place in Ajmer and was found in possession of the same at the Ajmer Railway Station on 16/08/1953 intending to carry them to Ahmedabad. These proceedings were held before Mr. Nanavati the then Deputy Inspector General of Police who summed up the evidence against the petitioner and held him guilty of the charge. As the charge against the petitioner was found defective Government did not take further proceedings and a second charge was furnished to the petitioner on 7/05/1954 wherein another count was added to the effect that When questioned by the Excise Sub Inspectors B. M. Mehta and R. D. Baijal at the Railway Station at the time of seizure of bottles about the place of residence you falsely replied to them that you were from the Central Police Training College Abu with the object of concealing your identity. It will be notice that this was entirely a new count and not merely an amendment of the original charge. The inquiry with regard to the second charge was held by Mr. Ram Ayer Deputy Inspector General of Police who did not sum up the evidence himself but relied on Mr. Nanavatys summing up. A show cause notice was issued on 24/09/1954 and thereafter an order of dismissal was passed on 13/12/1954. This order of dismissal was set aside by the State Government on the ground that a copy of the summing up was not supplied to the petitioner. Another show cause notice was issued on 26/07/1955 by Mr. Chudasama. Inspector General of Police containing both the counts viz. possession of liquor and making false statement about his identity. A copy of the summing up of Mr. Nanavati was annexed to the show cause notice After the petitioner had shown cause an order of dismissal was passed by Mr. Chudasama on 16/09/1959. The petitioners appeal to the State Government against the said order of dismissal was also rejected on 30/11/1955.

(3.) The petitioner then preferred an application under Article 226 of the Constitution of India to the High Court at Bombay being Special Civil Application No. 135 of 1959 praying that the aforesaid order of dismissal dated 30/11/1955 be set aside. That petition was heard by Chagla C. J. and Dixit J. on the 17/07/1956 who while setting aside the order of dismissal observed in the Judgment that -