20 Yrs On, Delhi High Court Quashes CISF Officer's Compulsory Retirement Over Unsubstantiated Sexual Harassment Allegations

The Delhi High Court has set aside the compulsory retirement of a CISF Assistant Commandant nearly 25 years after the disciplinary action was taken, holding that the punishment was founded on unsubstantiated allegations.

A division bench of Justices Dinesh Mehta and Vimal Kumar Yadav observed,

“Having regard to the fact that a period of about 25 years has since passed and the petitioner has attained 72 years of age, we feel that the least we can do is, to restore his honour, which according to us, has been destroyed by the action of ordering 'compulsory retirement'.”

The Court was dealing with a petition filed by the officer, who had been compulsorily retired in 2005 following allegations of sexual harassment.

The Court noted that the petitioner had been subjected to three preliminary enquiries, despite having been exonerated earlier.

“No satisfactory reason has come forth justifying the third PE, when he was found innocent in the first and second PE,” it said.

The Court also found that the charges were not supported by cogent evidence. “The respondents ought to have given quietus to the issue given the nature of allegations which reeks of vengeance rather than genuine harassment. Moreso, there is no allegation of serious nature,” it said.

The Court further noted that no prior misconduct had been attributed to the officer during his long service, and that the material on record did not justify the extreme penalty imposed.

“There is no similar allegation against the petitioner during his past tenure and no complaint has ever been received against him. Hence, the respondents ought to have objectively considered the matter and should have gone with the opinion expressed by the Special Secretary,” it observed.

As such, the Court set aside Petitioner's dismissal and held that subsequent enquiries were “uncalled for”.

Appearance: Mr. Lokesh Bhardwaj, Mr. Ashna Narang, Mr. Jatin & Mr. Shivam Chauhan, Advs. alongwith petitioner in person; MR. R.D Bhardwaj, CGSC, Mr. Kushagra Kumar, SPC alongwith Mr. Ali Mohamad, AC, Mr. Sanjay Kumar, Insp., Mr. S.K. Bharti & Mr. Manjunath, SI, CISF

Case title: Ex.Asstt.Commandant R.S.Yadav v. UoI

Citation: 2025 LiveLaw (Del) 1789

Case no.: W.P.(C) 6806/2006

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