On Friday(on 23rd August),The Delhi High Court has upheld the CAT’s decision to reinstate Gurjinder Pal Singh, a Chhattisgarh IPS officer suspended in 2021. The Central Government’s challenge to the ruling was dismissed.
Thank you for reading this post, don't forget to subscribe!
NEW DELHI: On Friday(on 23rd August), The Delhi High Court has upheld a decision made by the Central Administrative Tribunal (CAT) that directed the reinstatement of Gurjinder Pal Singh, a senior Indian Police Service (IPS) officer from Chhattisgarh who had been suspended in 2021. The Central Government had challenged the CAT’s verdict, but the court, in its judgment on Friday(23rd August), dismissed the challenge and upheld the CAT’s decision.
Gurjinder Pal Singh, a prominent IPS officer, had been under suspension since 2021. The suspension was linked to several First Information Reports (FIRs) filed against him during the same year. These FIRs included allegations of corruption, sedition, and extortion. Singh, however, had a history of high-profile investigations, including serving as the head of a Special Investigation Team (SIT) that was tasked with investigating allegations against former Chhattisgarh Chief Minister Raman Singh in an alleged multi-crore public distribution system scam.
The Central Administrative Tribunal, in its earlier order, had directed that Singh be reinstated, finding that the FIRs against him were registered at the “behest of higher authorities of the (then Chhattisgarh) state government” as he did not comply with their directives. The CAT’s observations pointed towards potential political motivations behind the charges.
The Delhi High Court, in its ruling, stated that the CAT’s verdict regarding IPS officer Gurjinder Pal Singh “suffers from no infirmity.” The division bench, comprising Justices Suresh Kait and Girish Kathpalia, carefully examined the circumstances surrounding the suspension and the subsequent FIRs lodged against Singh. The court noted that the Chhattisgarh High Court had already stayed proceedings in all three FIRs, highlighting that the Central Government’s decision to proceed with Singh’s compulsory retirement was premature.
The court pointedly remarked that the Central Government’s action appeared to be “a shortcut method without even waiting for the conclusion of departmental proceedings,” implying that due process was not followed.
Gurjinder Pal Singh’s troubles began between June and July 2021 when he was booked under three separate FIRs. These included a corruption case alleging he possessed disproportionate assets, a sedition case, and an extortion case linked to an incident purportedly occurring six years prior. Notably, the FIRs coincided with Singh’s tenure as the head of the SIT probing allegations against the former Chhattisgarh CM, adding a layer of complexity to the case.
Furthermore, Singh’s career had been marked by controversy even before these FIRs. In 2012, he was embroiled in an investigation related to the abetment of suicide of the then Superintendent of Police in Bilaspur, who tragically ended his life. The deceased officer had reportedly left a suicide note citing “harassment” by an “interfering boss” and “an arrogant and haughty judge of the high court.” However, the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) closed the case in September 2013, stating that no case was made out against Singh.
Despite this, the Union Government reopened the suicide abetment case in November 2020, forming a five-member inquiry committee against Singh. This reopening was met with skepticism by the High Court, which observed that doing so without any reasoning or any fresh ground, especially when the closure report mentioned that no case was made out against him, which was accepted by the court, is nothing but an apparent attempt to harass Singh.
The Delhi High Court’s decision to uphold the CAT’s ruling is a significant legal victory for Gurjinder Pal Singh. It underscores the importance of adhering to due process and highlights potential issues of political interference in administrative actions against senior officers.
