CWP No.18578 of 2008 1 IN THE HIGH COURT FOR THE STATES OF PUNJAB & HARYANA AT CHANDIGARH. CWP No.18578 of 2008 Date of decision: 30.10.2008 Ex-Rifleman Kuldeep Singh ...Petitioner Versus Union of India & others ...Respondents CORAM: HON'BLE MR. JUSTICE ASHUTOSH MOHUNTA HON'BLE MR. JUSTICE RAJAN GUPTA Present: Mr. A.S. Jattana, Advocate, for the petitioner. Rajan Gupta, J. The petitioner has prayed for issuance of a writ in the nature of certiorari for quashing the order dated 19.6.2008, Annexure P-1 whereby he has been discharged from service. The petitioner has also impugned order dated 21.1.2008, Annexure P-4 whereby punishment has been imposed upon him. The petitioner has averred in the writ petition that he joined the Assam Rifle on 19.8.2000 and served the same for more than seven years and ten months. He was discharged from service vide order dated 19.6.2008, Annexure P-1. The petitioner is aggrieved by the said order directing his discharge from service. We have heard learned counsel for the petitioner. The counsel has contended that the petitioner was awarded CWP No.18578 of 2008 2 Police Duty Medal, 50th Independence Anniversary Medal and Samanaya Seva Medal for the services rendered by him. The petitioner had also passed the certificate course for National Security Guard Training Centre Manesar (Haryana) from 29.1.2007 to 21.4.2007 for which he was appreciated. The counsel has also contended that the petitioner has been wrongly discharged from service. His service record has not been kept in mind by the authority while discharging him from service. Besides, no proper opportunity of hearing was granted to him before the impugned decision was taken. We have perused the records annexed with the petition. A perusal of Annexure P-4 shows that the petitioner was found in a state of intoxication while on duty on number of occasions for which he was punished with rigorous imprisonment for varying periods. Due to this, he earned three red entries. He was thereafter warned and asked to be careful in future. It was made clear that if he earned fourth red ink entry in his service document, then action would be taken to discharge him from service under Assam Rifles Act Section 4 (a) read with ROI 1/2004 and Para 24 of Chapter VIII of AR Manual. It appears that thereafter the petitioner earned the fourth red entry as well. Thus, a decision was taken to discharge him from service being an incorrigible offender. The operative part of the order whereby the petitioner was discharged from service reads thus: “4. NOW THEREFORE, in exercise of the powers conferred on me under AR Act 1941 Sec. 4 (a) read with CWP No.18578 of 2008 3 para 24, Chapter VIII of AR Manual and para 5 of ROI 1/2004 read with Rule 40 CCS, Pension Rules and HQ DGAR Sig No.A 5850 dt 31 Dec 2003, the undersigned hereby discharges the said No.G/57694K rfn/GD Gurdeep Singh from Assam Rifles being incorrigible offender soldier with effect from 19 Jun 2008 (AN). The Indl is not entitled pensionary benefits since he has completed 07 yrs, 09 months and 03 days of qualifying service as on 19 Jun 2008 (AN). However, the indl will get service gratuity as per CCS (Pension) rule 1972. Sd/- (KPS Sirohi) Col Comdt” From the record, it is clear that the petitioner was warned by his Commanding Officer to improve his conduct as he had been found in the state of intoxication while on QRT duty and even while on duty in out of bound area. He was also found intoxicated while on PT Parade. This is clear from a perusal of the warning issued to the petitioner vide Annexure P-4. However, when it was found that the petitioner was incorrigible, it was decided to discharge him from service by invoking AR Act 1941 Sec. 4 (a) Read with para 24, Chapter VIII of AR Manual and para 5 of ROI 1/2004 read with Rule 40 CCS, Pension Rules and HQ DGAR Sig No.A 5850 dt 31 Dec 2003. Learned counsel for the petitioner has not been able to point out any legal infirmity with the order passed by the competent authority. If an employee is found repeatedly in a state of intoxication in a CWP No.18578 of 2008 4 disciplined force, he can claim no right to be retained in service. We thus found no merit in this writ petition and the same is hereby dismissed. (RAJAN GUPTA) JUDGE (ASHUTOSH MOHUNTA) JUDGE October 30, 2008 'rajpal'