Delhi HC resinates RPF constable dismissed for commenting 'Badhiya Kiya Bhai' on FB post about officer’s killing

The Delhi High Court recently quashed the dismissal of a Railway Protection Force (RPF) constable who had been terminated for allegedly commenting “Badhiya kiya bhai” (“Well done, brother!”) on a 2018 Facebook post about the killing of a senior officer by another constable [Robin Gautam Vs Union Of India And Ors]. 

The Division Bench of Justice C Hari Shankar and Justice Om Prakash Shukla found that there was no conclusive proof that the petitioner Robin Gautam had posted the objectionable comment. Thus, it ruled that he was entitled to be exonerated of the charges against him in the charge-sheet.

"The DA [Disciplinary Authority], in fact, holds that this could not be conclusively established. We, therefore, quash and set aside the entire proceedings against the petitioner ab initio starting from the charge-sheet. The petitioner shall be entitled to be reinstated in service from the date on which he was removed from service," the Court ordered

The Court clarified that had it been established that the Facebook account from which the objectionable post had been made belonged to Gautam, he would have exposed himself to severe punishment.

"Commending the killing of one officer of the Force by another, even by way of a response on a social media platform, is inexcusable," it said.

In 2018, RPF Assistant Commandant Mukesh C Tyagi was allegedly killed by Constable Arjun Deshwal during election duty in Meghalaya.

After the killing, the petitioner Gautam was issued a chargesheet for his alleged Facebook comment.

An Inquiry Officer (IO) later found that he “appeared to be guilty”. On the basis of the inquiry report, the Disciplinary Authority (DA) noted Gautam's defence that he did not have any Facebook account even though it had his photograph and name.

The DA opined that he should have informed the department or police about the alleged Facebook account. Since he had not done so, the DA ordered stoppage of his "Next Annual Increment for a period of 05 years with cumulative effect".

However, the Deputy Inspector General (DIG) as Chief Security Commissioner (CSC) found the punishment to be light and ordered the petitioner's dismissal in 2021. The decision was upheld by appellate authority.

Gautam then moved the High Court against his dismissal.

Considering the record, the Court said that the authorities had shown a complete non-application of mind at every stage while deciding the matter.

“This is a clear case where there is a complete non-application of mind at every stage, from the stage of the Disciplinary Authority onwards. We are constrained to observe that when officers are dealing with the careers of other officers, they are expected to display some modicum of application of mind.”

The DIG had not even examined the records before issuing the show cause notice to Gautam, though he claimed to have done so, the Court noted.

"The orders of the CSC and of the Appellate Authority in particular, merely reproduce, verbatim, the allegations in the show cause notice and it is apparent from a bare reading of the orders that neither of the officers has taken the trouble of going through the records or appraising himself of the actual position which emerged therefrom," it found.

Since there was a concurrence of opinion between the IO and the DA about the lack of proof to establish that the Facebook account belonged to Gautam, the matter ought to have ended there as there was no other allegation against him in the charge-sheet, the Court concluded.

The Court, thus, allowed the plea and ordered that Gautam shall be entitled to continuity in service as well as to pay fixation "as though he had never been removed from service in the first place."

Advocates Saahila Lamba and Nidhi Sharma appeared for the petitioner.

Senior Panel Counsel Krishna Kumar Sharma with advocate Anil Devlal appeared for the State. 

[Read Judgment]