Court No. - 58
Case :- WRIT - A No. - 20287 of 2018 Petitioner :- Ahivarn Singh Respondent :- Union Of India And 3 Others Counsel for Petitioner :- Jai Prakash Singh Counsel for Respondent :- A.S.G.I.
Hon'ble Ashwani Kumar Mishra,J.
Exercising the power under section 23A of the Border Security Force Act, 1968, the respondents have passed an order of dismissal against the petitioner on account of his conviction under section 302 IPC. It appears that a criminal appeal has been preferred by the petitioner in which execution of sentence has been stayed on 8.11.2017. Armed by the order passed in Criminal Appeal No.1389 of 2017, petitioner had approached this Court for directing the authorities to examine petitioner's claim and reinstate him in service. It appears that such claim of the petitioner has been examined by the authority and an order has been passed on 20.4.2018, in which it is observed that at this stage no relief can be granted to the petitioner and that request for reinstatement can be considered based upon the final outcome of pending criminal appeal. The order dated 20.4.2018 is, therefore, challenged.
Heard learned counsel for the petitioner and Sri S. P. Singh, learned Assistant Solicitor General of India, assisted by Sri Prem Shankar Prasad, learned counsel for the respondents.
Facts, which have been narrated above, are not in issue. Section 23A of the Act of 1968 clearly permits the authorities to pass an order of dismissal even without holding an enquiry where conviction has been ordered by the criminal court. The fact of admission of criminal appeal as well as stay of execution of sentence would not mean that the conviction itself ceases to exit. In such circumstances, the observations contained in the order dated 20.4.2018, as per which the request for reinstatement can be considered only after disposal of appeal, does not appear to be arbitrary or contrary to the provisions of law. No interference with the order dated 20.4.2018 is, therefore, called for.
Writ petition is, accordingly, dismissed. Dismissal of this petition, however, would not preclude the petitioner from making an application for reinstatement based upon outcome of petitioner's pending criminal appeal.
Order Date :- 20.9.2018 Ashok Kr.