The Madhya Pradesh High Court has censured the State police for suspending a sub-inspector who raided an IAS officer’s farmhouse following a tip-off about illegal gambling [Lokendra Singh Hihore v State of Madhya Pradesh].Justice Jai Kumar Pillai on May 7 quashed the suspension order issued by Superintendent of Police of Indore district (Gramin) against police station in-charge Lokendra Singh Hihore on March 11.The Court said the order against Hihore prima facie appeared to have been passed in an arbitrary, colorable, and vindictive manner. It said that if such suspension orders were permitted to continue, no officer would even dare to raid any premises due to fear of suspension. The Court found that Hihore had faced “immense external pressure” to suppress the identity of the crime scene but demonstrated unwavering integrity by ensuring the FIR reflected the true and correct facts. It observed a “glaring non-application of mind” in the case, noting that even one Assistant Sub Inspector (ASI), who was on sick leave, was suspended. It also noted that another SHO who had carried out a similar raid was not suspended. This undeniably exposes a 'pick and choose' policy driven by a vindictive mindset rather than administrative exigency, the Bench said..Hihore, a 2007-batch sub-inspector, had raided a farmhouse situated in Gram Avlipura during the intervening night of March 10 and 11. More than 20 people were found indulging in illegal gambling there, leading to the seizure of substantial cash, mobile phones and vehicles.It was found that the farmhouse belonged to an IAS officer posted as Managing Director in the MP Finance Corporation, Indore. Hihore alleged that he faced immense pressure to hide the actual place of occurrence to shield the identity of the farmhouse. Since he went ahead with registration of FIR, he was placed under suspension the same day.Hihore then moved the Court challenging his suspension. In response, the State said he was suspended as he failed to curb illegal activities and strengthen intelligence gathering..However, the Court said the State failed to place on record any specific operational directive or statutory instruction violated by Hihore. It added that the State’s claim of Hihore's failure to gather intelligence was contradicted by the successful intelligence-based raid.“Penalizing a law enforcement officer for the prompt, efficient, and successful execution of his statutory duties is antithetical to the very concept of 'grave misconduct' and shocks the conscience of this Court,” the Bench said.The Court observed that the preliminary enquiry against him was heavily prejudiced as it relied on old cases of his alleged misconduct despite having “absolutely no nexus” with the present incident.“Moreover, the findings of the Enquiry Officer are inherently contradictory. On one hand, during the appreciation of facts, the officer observes that the petitioner is not directly liable; yet, at the time of drawing the conclusion, he abruptly recommends that the petitioner is liable to be suspended,” the Bench said, while setting aside the suspension. .Advocate Mini Ravindran represented the petitioner. Deputy Advocate General Sudeep Bhargav and Deputy Government Advocate Kushagra Singh represented the State..[Read Judgment]
