SANJAY RAI Vs. STATE OF U P

JUDGEMENT

(1.) All these writ petitions involve same issue, therefore, they were heard together and are being decided by a common judgment. For convenience Writ Petition No.936(SS) of 2015, Sanjay Rai v. State of U.P. & ors., has been treated as the leading writ petition.

(2.) The petitioners herein are police personnel against whom either departmental proceedings have been initiated or punishment orders have been passed therein.

(3.) The contention of the learned counsel for the petitioners appearing in these writ petitions was that the subject matter of the departmental inquiry, apart from being an offence under Section 7 of the Police Act 1861 (hereinafter referred as ''Act'), also constituted a cognizable offence, therefore, disciplinary proceedings could not be held nor any punishment order could be passed without complying with the provisions of Regulation 486 of the Police Regulations. It was contended that during pendency of the criminal trial before a competent court of Criminal Jurisdiction no such proceedings could take place nor any punishment could be imposed, as, the facts, according to the opposite parties, not only constituted a cause for departmental action under Section 7 of the Act but also constituted a cognizable offence under the Criminal Law.