The Bombay High Court on Wednesday refused to quash a penalty imposed on a CISF constable charged for misconduct because he knocked on a neighbour’s door late at night asking for a lemon.
“Knocking on neighbour’s door knowing that the man in the house is absent, and the house was occupied by a lady with her six-year-old daughter and that too for a frivolous reason of getting a lemon for so called medical emergency of stomach upset, is preposterous to say the least,” the division bench of Justices Nitin Jamdar and MM Sathaye said.
The constable, Arvind Kumar, had claimed that he was feeling unwell and had knocked on the neighbour’s door only to ask for a lemon. He has moved the court challenging the decision taken by his superiors of imposing a penalty on him.
The incident occurred on April 19, 2021. When the constable knocked on her door late in the night, the woman was frightened. After she warned him, he left. The woman filed a complaint before a superior officer. After a departmental inquiry, action was taken against Kumar. It was found that Kumar had consumed alcohol before the incident.
‘Unbecoming behaviour’
The court order also stated that the behaviour was “unbecoming of a CISF personnel”. The constable was apparently aware that his colleague, the woman’s husband, was away on election duty in West Bengal.
The court said, “The conduct of Kumar is certainly unbecoming of the officer of the force such as CISF. In our considered view, the intention of Kumar is certainly not found to be as genuine and clear as alleged.”
The bench also refused to accept Kumar’s contention that the incident did not amount to misconduct, as he was not on duty at the time of the alleged incident. It stated that the Central Civil Service (Conduct) Rules require him to maintain integrity and do nothing which is unbecoming of a government servant at all times.
The departmental inquiry had concluded that Kumar’s peculiar behaviour amounted to harassment and was a sign of gross indiscipline and misconduct, tarnishing the image of the force. As punishment, his salary was reduced for a period of three years and he was deprived of any increment.
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