Allahabad High Court has issued a notice to the concerned officials, staying the ongoing departmental action against police inspectors and other policemen posted in Meerut, Varanasi, Siddharthnagar, Jaunpur, and Prayagraj. The court has sought responses from the authorities on the issues raised in the petitions.
Action postponed until further orders
The High Court has booked Inspector Uday Pratap Singh, Dev Kumar, Mukesh Sharma, Vijay Prakash, Rajeev Choudhary, Deepak Kumar Singh, and other policemen under Rule 14(1) of the Uttar Pradesh Subordinate Category Police Officers (Punishment and Appeal) Rules, 1991. The ongoing departmental action under this has been put on hold. This order was given by separate single benches of Justice Prakash Padia, Justice Ajit Kumar, Justice Neeraj Tiwari, and Justice JJ Munir while hearing the petitions.
All petitions were bunched
The High Court has bunched all the related petitions for hearing together. Senior advocate Vijay Gautam and his associate advocate Atapriya Gautam argued that departmental action is being taken by the police department in cases in which FIRs are already registered. Advocates said that doing so is against the rules under police regulations.
case details
FIRs were lodged in various police stations against inspectors, sub-inspectors, and constables of Uttar Pradesh Police on corruption and other charges. Departmental action is being taken on the basis of these allegations. The petitioners have challenged these departmental actions in the High Court.
violation of police regulation
The petitioners argued that as per Para 483, 486, 489, 492, and 493 of the Police Regulations, if a criminal case is pending against a policeman, departmental action cannot be taken on the same charges. This rule remains in force until the trial of the criminal case ends or the accused is acquitted on the basis of the final report.
Supreme Court reference
The senior advocate, citing the Supreme Court’s decision of Jasveer Singh vs. Government of Uttar Pradesh and other cases, argued that departmental action without following police regulations is not legal. The Supreme Court and the High Court have earlier clarified that when the criminal and departmental charges are the same, the departmental action should be postponed till the conclusion of the criminal case.
Big relief to policemen
This order of the High Court has brought great relief to the concerned policemen. The court has directed the Chief Judicial Magistrate of the concerned districts to inform the High Court’s stay order to the police officers of the concerned districts within 48 hours.
next hearing
The next hearing of the case has been scheduled for February 21, 2025. During this period, detailed answers will be sought from all concerned parties.
