The Himachal Pradesh High Court has granted relief to a former Director-General of Police (DGP) and nine other officers by quashing an FIR lodged against them in connection with the alleged wrongful dismissal of a Dalit constable. The constable, Dharam Sukh Negi, was dismissed on what his wife claimed were “concocted charges.”
Justice Virender Singh of the Himachal High Court dismissed the FIR on Friday, highlighting a lack of evidence linking the accused officers to any wrongdoing. The FIR had been filed under the Scheduled Caste and Scheduled Tribes (Prevention of Atrocities) Act based on a complaint by Meena Negi, the constable’s wife. Meena alleged that her husband faced undue harassment and was wrongly dismissed from his duties in the tribal Kinnaur district, with more than eight years remaining in his service.
In the detailed judgment, the court noted that the investigative agency found no substantial evidence to support the allegations of harassment or wrongful dismissal. The court emphasized that continuing the proceedings based on vague allegations would constitute an abuse of the legal process.
The complaint had also accused the officers of forcing Dharam Sukh Negi to pay over Rs 1.4 lakh for staying in government accommodation, an order that was allegedly part of the concocted charges leading to his dismissal. However, the court found the connections made in the complaint between the petitioners and the alleged crimes insufficient.
