The High Court of Delhi has upheld the dismissal from service & 1-year imprisonment given to a Sashastra Seema Bal (SSB) jawan, who didn't report the seizure of 3 gold pieces, weighing half kilogram, from smugglers.
A Bench of Justices Rajiv Sahai Endlaw & Asha Menon observed that, “absolute honesty & integrity is expected of all government employees & no slip can ever be brooked”.
No seizure record
The HC remarked that Sunil Kumar Yadav, who joined the services of SSB as a constable in 2011, “did not consider it inappropriate to keep smuggled gold in his possession, about the seizure of which no record was also prepared”.
It said that “Such employees wanting integrity cannot but be dismissed as their retention in service would send wrong signals & would be counterproductive".
On Nov 25, 2014, Yadav, who was posted in Narkatiaganj in Bihar claimed to have received input from his source about gold smuggling from Muzaffarpur in Bihar to Delhi in Saptakranti Express train.
It is Yadav’s case that he was able to apprehend a smuggler & the apprehension was duly notified to the superior officers. By this time, however, the Sapt Kranti Express had already reached Bagaha railway station, which was almost 50 km away from Narkatiaganj where he & another constable, along with the smuggler deboarded the train.
After the Sub-Area Organisers (SAOs) came to the Bagaha railway station, all of them proceeded towards Narkatiaganj. However, on the way, the smuggler escaped from the custody of the SAOs. Yadav said he was asked to deposit the recovered gold with the nearest SSB unit at Tuthibari while the SAOs “hurriedly” left the area.
Yadav alleged that he was arrested by local Police while on his way to Narkatiaganj.
On the other hand, the Central Govt submitted that Yadav was apprehended while he was proceeding with his brother to his home instead of depositing the recovered gold with the SSB unit or the police or the Customs, whose offices were all located in the vicinity.
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