CWP No. 20469 of 2008 1 IN THE HIGH COURT OF PUNJAB AND HARYANA AT CHANDIGARH CWP No. 20469 of 2008 Date of decision: 08.04.2010 Kamal Singh Kanhaiyalal Parihar son of Kanhaiyalal R. Parihar ...... PETITIONER VERSUS Union of India and others ....... RESPONDENTS CORAM: HON'BLE MR. JUSTICE AUGUSTINE GEORGE MASIH Present: Mr. A.K.Rampal, Advocate, for the petitioner. Ms. Anjali Kukkar, Central Government Counsel, for the respondents. *** AUGUSTINE GEORGE MASIH, J. (ORAL) Prayer in the present writ petition is for quashing of the impugned order dated 01.09.2006 (Annexure P-2), vide which the petitioner was removed from service and order dated 13.02.2007 (Annexure P-4) on an appeal filed by the petitioner rejecting his appeal and the order dated 21.11.2007 (Annexure P-5), vide which the revision petition preferred by the petitioner was also dismissed by the competent authority. CWP No. 20469 of 2008 2 Counsel for the petitioner contends that the allegations against the petitioner in the charge-sheet were that a Scheduled Tribe Caste certificate dated 12.04.1995 submitted by the petitioner at the time of his entry into service as a Constable with the respondents was found to be not issued by the Executive Magistrate, Akola. He contends that the onus to prove that the said document was not issued by the Executive Magistrate, was on the respondents but in the enquiry proceedings, no official from the office of the Executive Magistrate, Akola was produced to prove that the document was not issued by the said office, as was alleged by the respondents. He contends that another certificate dated 25.07.1994, which is prior in time to the certificate dated 12.04.1995 which was produced by the petitioner before the respondents, was found to be genuine by the respondents. He, on this basis, contends that the removal of the petitioner from service is not justified and the same deserves to be set aside. On the other hand, counsel for the respondents submits that the petitioner was enrolled in the Central Reserve Police Force on 19.02.2003. At the time of enrollment, along with other documents the petitioner submitted a Scheduled Tribe Certificate dated 12.04.1995. On verification of the said certificate, a communication was received from the office of the Executive Magistrate, Akola that the said certificate was not issued by the office. On the basis of the communication received from the office of the Executive Magistrate, Akola, the petitioner was charge- sheeted. A regular enquiry was held against him wherein due opportunity was given to the petitioner to prove that the said certificate dated 12.04.1995 was a genuine one but the petitioner failed to prove the same and, therefore, the report of the Executive Magistrate, Akola was accepted and the petitioner was removed from service. CWP No. 20469 of 2008 3 I have heard the counsel for the parties and have gone through the records of the case. It is not in dispute that the petitioner was enrolled as a Constable in the Central Reserve Police Force on 19.02.2003. At the time of his enrollment, he had submitted a Scheduled Tribe Certificate dated 12.04.1995. The said certificate was got verified by the respondents. According to the certificate, the same was issued by the Executive Magistrate, Akola on 12.04.1995 vide letter No. MRC/B1/Namdran/40158/Akola. On verification of the said certificate, a letter No. P/1/KV-588/05 dated 08.12.2005 was received by the respondents from the office of the Executive Magistrate, Akola that the certificate dated 12.04.1995 was not issued by the said office. On the basis of the said communication, the petitioner was issued a charge-sheet. Thereafter, a regular departmental enquiry was held against the petitioner. The petitioner was given due opportunity to produce his evidence and to support the genuineness of the certificate dated 12.04.1995. The petitioner failed to submit any proof with regard to the genuineness of the certificate and, therefore, the Enquiry Officer came to the conclusion that the certificate dated 12.04.1995 was not issued by the office of the Executive Magistrate, Akola and thus, was not a genuine certificate. On the basis of the findings returned by the Enquiry Officer, the punishing authority, on consideration of the report and on giving the notice to the petitioner, proceeded to pass an order of removal from service with regard to the petitioner dated 01.09.2006 (Annexure P-2). Thereafter, an appeal was preferred by the petitioner which was also rejected by the respondents on 13.02.2007 as also the revision petition preferred by him vide order dated 21.11.2007 in the light of the fact that the certificate dated 12.04.1995 CWP No. 20469 of 2008 4 submitted by the petitioner at the time of his entry into service which fact is not disputed by the petitioner, was found to be not issued by the office of the Executive Magistrate, Akola, the order of removal of the petitioner from service cannot be said to be illegal or not in accordance with law. Finding no merit in the present petition, the same stands dismissed. ( AUGUSTINE GEORGE MASIH ) JUDGE April 08, 2010 pj