Delhi High Court reinstates SSB Constable fired for attempting suicide, says mental illness not a choice

The Delhi High Court recently ordered reinstatement of a Sashastra Seema Bal (SSB) Constable who had been suffering from depression and who was removed from service for attempting to die by suicide while working as a dog handler [Vasudev Panchal v Union of India & Ors]..A division bench of Justices Sanjeev Sachdeva and Manoj Jain said that the SSB authorities wrongly treated mental illness like depression as "bad conduct."The Court also found fault with authorities terming petitioner Vasudev Panchal a "habitual offender", and treating the matter as if the constable had inflicted depression on himself and had a choice to suffer mental illness. “In the instant case, instead of showing any empathy with the Petitioner, when he first attempted to commit suicide, the commanding officer sentenced him to 89 days Rigorous Imprisonment particularly when he was already undergoing psychiatric treatment,” the Court noted. .It observed that members of defence forces work under tremendous stress and strain. If the stress is compounded by external factors from the home front, there are possibilities of members of the force taking extreme steps, the Court noted. “In the case of the Petitioner, he was also under medical treatment and was placed in low medical category. He attempted suicide and was sentenced to Rigorous Imprisonment for 89 days. Then he was having trouble at his home front. His colleagues were also counseling him. The Commandant instead of taking into account his mental condition and a empathetic view of the fact that he had attempted to take a drastic step of taking his own life, awarded him the harshest of punishment “be Dismissed from service”," the bench said..Panchal was dismissed from service on October 17, 2018. His dismissal was upheld by the appellate authority on March 4, 2019 and mercy petition was rejected on August 23, 2019.He told the Court that he was suffering from depression and mental trauma as his girlfriend had left him and his family had been blaming him for breaking up his sister’s marriage..In August 2017, Panchal allegedly consumed liquid poison in the dog kennel for which he was awarded a sentence of “imprisonment in force custody upto 89 days."In October the same year, he climbed the water supply tank in the SSB campus area. After being brought down, a search was conducted at his quarters, where a suicide note was reported to be recovered. He was then taken into custody.Following this, a trial was held and he was dismissed from service..The Court considered the allegations and ruled that punishment of dismissal from service was highly disproportionate to Panchal's alleged conduct.“Normally, while holding the punishment disproportionate, this court would have remitted the matter to the authority to pass an appropriate order of punishment, however in the present case, we are not following the said course as we are of the view that petitioner has been out of service for over five years and has already suffered enough," the Court said.Therefore, the bench set aside the dismissal order as well as the order of the appellate authority upholding the punishment.“Petitioner is directed to be reinstated in service forthwith with all consequential benefits,” it added..Advocate Aanchal Anand appeared for the petitioner, Vasudev Panchal.The Union of India was represented through Senior Panel Counsel Satya Ranjan Swain as well as advocates Sahaj Garg and Kautilya Birat..If you or anyone else you know are facing mental health issues or having suicidal or self-harming thoughts, please access the helpline number given below:iCall - 9152987821 (Health Helpline - Mon—Sat, 10 AM—8 PM. Languages: English, Hindi, Marathi, Gujarati, Bengali, Assamese, Kashmiri.)Aasra offers support to individuals and families during an emotional crisis, for those dealing with mental health issues and suicidal ideation, and to those undergoing trauma after the suicide of a loved one.24x7 Helpline: 9820466726.[Read Judgment]