CUTTACK: The Orissa High Court has modified the punishment imposed on a former sepoy of the Odisha Special Armed Police (OSAP), holding that his dismissal from service was disproportionate to the misconduct proved against him.
In a judgement delivered on February 26, a single judge bench of Justice Ananda Chandra Behera partly allowed the petition filed by Rohit Kumar Sahu, a former sepoy of the 4th Battalion, OSAP, Rourkela.
Instead of remanding the matter to the disciplinary authority, the court modified the punishment from dismissal to compulsory retirement.
Sahu, who had been appointed on July 7, 1989, was dismissed from service by the commandant, OSAP, on June 7, 2004, after departmental proceedings found him guilty of disobeying a superior officer’s order. The charge stemmed from his refusal in December 2003 to accept deputation to Barbil police station.
At the time, Sahu was serving as secretary of the Battalion’s Branch Association and claimed protection under a 1985 directive that required office-bearers to remain at headquarters.
His appeal before the Inspector General of Police and revision before the Director General of Police were rejected in 2005. He subsequently approached the Odisha Administrative Tribunal, seeking quashing of the dismissal and reinstatement with full service benefits. However, after the tribunal’s abolition in 2005, the petition was transferred to the high court.
Justice Behera held that the penalty “shocks the conscience of this court” and was “disproportionate to the above charge proved against him (petitioner)”.
He observed that since the petitioner worked as a sepoy in the police department for nearly 15 years and served in a disciplined manner during that time, he should not have been dismissed from service at this juncture.
Accordingly, instead of remanding the matter to the disciplinary authority, the court modified the punishment from dismissal to compulsory retirement, enabling Sahu to receive pension and other benefits for his service from July 7, 1989 to June 7, 2004.