The High Court of Jammu & Kashmir and Ladakh has upheld the disengagement of a Village Defence Committee (VDC) Special Police Officer (SPO), holding that a person appointed under a government scheme does not hold a civil post and cannot claim the protections available to regular government employees.
A Division Bench of Justice Rajesh Sekhri and Justice Sindhu Sharma dismissed the Letters Patent Appeal filed by Kirpal Singh, who was disengaged as VDC SPO, Doda, after complaints alleging that he remained under the influence of liquor, threatened villagers with his service weapon, and failed to cooperate with VDC members.
The Court noted that an inquiry was conducted into the allegations and statements of villagers, VDC members, Lambardar and Sarpanch supported the complaints. Rejecting the plea that a regular departmental inquiry was mandatory, the Bench held that principles of natural justice depend on the facts of each case.
The Court observed, “Rules of natural justice are not strait-jacket formulae to be applied uniformly in all cases. Its application varies from case to case depending upon the facts and circumstances of a particular case.”
Relying on the Supreme Court judgment in State of Karnataka v. Ameerbi, the Court held that appointments made under a scheme do not make an incumbent a holder of a civil post. It observed that the appellant “was not holding a civil post so as to entitle him to the protection of Article 311 of the Constitution of India and the provisions contained in the Police Rules.”
Finding no illegality or perversity in the Single Judge’s order, the Division Bench dismissed the appeal and upheld the disengagement of the appellant.
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