Departmental probe no bar to attending promotion course: CAT Bench

Ramkrishan Upadhyay

Tribune News Service

Chandigarh, December 17

In one of the significant judgments, the Central Administrative Tribunal (CAT), Chandigarh, has directed the Director-General of Police (DGP) here to allow two constables who are facing departmental inquiries to attend a Lower School Training Programme. The training programme is a mandatory condition for the promotion of constables to the post of head constable.

Constables Jagjit Singh and Jagjinder Singh have approached the Chandigarh Bench of CAT through their advocate, Dr Sumati Jund, after their names were not included in the list of the constables named for the programme.

They said they had been serving on the post of constable in the Chandigarh Police for many years. Both of them are facing regular departmental enquiries. Due to the pendency of these regular departmental inquiries, the DGP excluded their names from List-B issued by its office order dated November 30, 2021, for the training programme .

The List-B is released by the DGP after every few years for the purpose of filling the existing vacancies (total 329 posts of head constable) in accordance with Rule 13.7 of the Punjab Police Rules, 1934, for the purpose of selecting constables for admission to promotion course/lower school course at Police Training College.

The course is one of the basic prerequisites for promoting the constables to the post of head constable.

On the other hand, the counsel for the respondents said their names had not been excluded from the list, but kept in the sealed cover subject to the outcome of the departmental inquiries pending against them. In case they are exonerated in the departmental/criminal proceedings, they will be eligible to be deputed for Lower School Course in the next batch after the exoneration and will be eligible to be given a deemed date of List B retrospectively.

After hearing the arguments, the CAT Chandigarh Bench, comprising Suresh Kumar Monga, Member (J) and Rakesh Kumar Gupta member (A), said the stage of selection of constables for their nomination to the Lower Training Course couldn’t be considered to be a part of the selection process for promotion to the rank of Head Constables. It only makes them eligible for being considered for selection for promotion to the post of head constable, once they have passed the requisite Lower School Course.

“In view of this, the respondents are directed to reconsider the case of the applicants, and to include them in List “B” and depute them to attend the lower school training programme, forthwith, if eligible otherwise. It will only be at the time, when their actual promotion to Head Constable rank is considered, that the guidelines, prescribed by the DOPT regarding sealed cover procedure, may be followed, if they have any departmental inquiry pending against them, at that time,” says the order issued by the Bench.