Rajasthan HC Grants Relief To Constable Dismissed From Service 28 Years Back Over Age Dispute, Directs Govt To Extend All Retiral Benefits

Rajasthan High Court has granted relief to a constable dismissed from service 28 years ago on the grounds of forging documents in relation to his age at the time of his appointment.

As per the competent authority, Petitioner could not have been below 25 years of age at the time of appointment (as required under applicable Rules) since he was married having three children. Thus he was dismissed from service in 1996.

Bench of Justice Ganesh Ram Meena found this reasoning unacceptable, stating that such situation was a common outcome of child marriages, prevalent at the time.

"In the remote rural areas in 1970's-80 the child marriages were solemnized in many cases...in the year 1981 a person may be married and may have three children before he attains the age of 25 years. Therefore the finding of the Appellate Authority that the petitioner cannot be below the age of 25 years at the time of appointment as he was a married and having three children, cannot be accepted," it said.

It was alleged that at the time of appointment, the transfer certificate submitted by petitioner was forged with respect to his age, wherein his actual age was decreased to obtain the appointment. An inquiry was conducted which resulted in his dismissal from services. An appeal against this order was also rejected by the appellate authority. These two orders were challenged by the petitioner before the Court.

It was the case of the petitioner that along with inquiry, a criminal case was also registered against him for the aforementioned allegations in which he was acquitted by the appellate court. The counsel for the petitioner argued that in light of this acquittal in the criminal proceedings, the penalty imposed by the disciplinary authority of dismissing the petitioner was not sustainable.

The Court observed that while passing the order of dismissal, the disciplinary authority did not conduct any discussion regarding the evidence that proved the allegations of forged documents against the petitioner.

In this background, the Court set aside the impugned orders and directed the government to extend consequential benefits and retiral benefits to the petitioner that he would have been entitled to had he been in service till date.

Title: Shri Sunder Pal v State of Rajasthan & Ors.

Citation: 2024 LiveLaw (Raj) 144

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