RAJ KUMAR Vs. UNION OF INDIA

JUDGEMENT

(1.) This writ petition has been filed by two writ petitioners challenging orders of discharge dtd. 1/3/2017and 18/2/2017 respectively and for issuance of a mandamus commanding the respondents to reinstate the petitioners into service with all consequential benefits.

(2.) It is the case of the petitioners that in pursuance of Advertisement number 1/2011 issued by the Respondent No.3 for recruitment on the post of Constable (GD) in Railway Protection Special Force (RPSF) the petitioners applied and were selected. Before their training and appointment the petitioners had to submit their attestation forms where in column 12 they had to disclose their character and antecedents and as to whether any criminal case was pending against them or whether they had ever been tried. To this the petitioners answered in the negative as at that point of time no criminal case was pending against them. During the course of training, police verification reports of the petitioners were sought from the District Magistrates of their respective districts. In the police verification reports it came out that FIR was lodged against them individually but they were acquitted. However, since they had not disclosed this fact in the attestation form both the petitioners were discharged from their service.

(3.) It has been argued by the learned counsel for the petitioner that the petitioner no.1, Rajkumar had submitted his attestation form on 22/6/2014 wherein he did not disclose his character and antecedents in Column 12 with regard to Case Crime No. 131 of 2003 under Ss. 323 and 504 I.P.C. He was sent for training at ITBP Training Centre AALO, West Slang, Arunachal Pradesh on 30/10/2014. In the police verification report sought from district Allahabad it was informed that he was prosecuted but acquitted from the Court of ACJM. However, as a result of this verification report he was discharged while undergoing training 31/3/2015. The Respondents had failed to appreciate that the petitioner no.1 was cleanly acquitted from criminal charges by an order dtd. 24/9/2007 by the Court of Additional Chief Judicial Magistrate. At the time of filing of his application form and at the time of signing of the attestation form no criminal case was pending. Also, petitioner no.1 was a juvenile at the time when the FIR was lodged against him as he was just nine years old. He was tried in a Regular Court instead of by Juvenile Justice Board and he was 13 years old when he was cleanly acquitted by the Court of ACJM.