It is a classic case of an individual’s fight against the system’s might. Delhi High Court has ordered reinstatement of Mr GP Singh, an Additional Director General of Police in Chhatisgarh, with full honours.
The High Court bench comprising Justice Suresh Kumar Kait and Justice Girish Kathpalia, also upheld the Central Administrative Tribunal’s (CAT) verdict delivered on April 30, 2024 in Mr Singh’s favour. Mr Singh had been compulsorily retired by the then Bhupesh Baghel government in July 2023 on trumped up charges.
Indian Masterminds had earlier reported the CAT verdict too. It can be read here…
Mr. Singh is a gallantry award winner and recipient of several commemorations and recommendations. His Annual Confidential Reports (ACRs) have mostly been marked 9 out of 10 by his superiors. His troubles started after he was posted as IG of the Economic Offence Wing (EOW) and Anti-Corruption Bureau (ACB) on February 27, 2019. The state government had changed barely three months ago, with Mr. Bhupesh Baghel of the Congress taking over as Chief Minister on December 17, 2018 replacing BJP’s Raman Singh.
In his application before CAT, Mr. Singh claimed that while investigating the high-profile Civil Supplies Scam worth over several thousand crores, he was subjected to political pressure to implicate certain people including Mr Raman Singh. He was also asked to weaken the case against some others, including the main accused Anil Tuteja, an IAS , who had already been charge-sheeted.
He was abruptly transferred as Director of the State Police Academy, his ACR was downgraded to 6 with adverse remarks, and three FIRs were filed against him within a month – for owning disproportionate assets, sedition, and abetment of suicide in a six-year-old incident. The then DGP instituted three inquiry committees against several complaints received from private individuals. All these complaints were strangely received within 24 hours – between July 12 and July 13, 2021. None of these inquiries have been completed to date. The last nail in the proverbial coffin came when he was compulsorily retired in July 2023.
He ran from pillar to post, challenging the FIRs, disciplinary action against him, and his forced retirement. His condition worsened as he was put behind bars.
Noting that FIRs were registered against him at the “behest of higher authorities of the (then Chhattisgarh) State government” as he did not toe its line, the Central Administrative Tribunal (CAT) Tuesday directed the reinstatement within four weeks of a Chhattisgarh IPS officer suspended in 2021.
Initially, he was released on bail as the case ‘concocted against him’ was too weak and couldn’t stand in a court of law. He was accused of having assets that were disproportionate to his income. But the assets listed in his and his father’s names were somebody else’s properties. The two kg of gold recovered from the scooter of a co-accused, as per the CCTV footage, was found to have been planted by the police.
The government had challenged CAT’s verdict before Delhi HC claiming the Tribunal had failed to consider the allegations against Mr Singh. The latter could not show any malafide in the Government’s order to retire him compulsorily. However, High Court did not find any merit in the government’s arguments and rejected the petition seeking quashing of CAT’s orders.
