“How Will He Protect Women?”: MP High Court Slams Cop For Making Female Operator Check Male Officers' Breath

The Madhya Pradesh High Court on Wednesday (April 29) took serious note of the conduct of a Police Inspector who allegedly directed a privately hired female call operator to check the breath of intoxicated male police personnel in the Dial-100 control room.The division bench of Chief Justice Sanjeev Sachdeva and Justice Vinay Saraf expressed strong disapproval of the incident during the hearing, remarking,"Is it becoming of an Officer? Was he unwell? Did he have cold that he couldn't have smelled them himself? What was the purpose of calling a lady officer to come and smell the alcohol breath of other male officers".The case arises from an order of February 19, 2026, passed by the Single Judge, which set aside the dismissal of the Police Inspector posted in Dial-100 Control Room.The officer had been dismissed on 8/9 September 2025, following the allegations that on the intervening night of August 30/31, 2025, he directed the female call operator to stand at the entrance of the dispatch hall and smell the breath of male police personnel suspected of intoxication. The incident was captured on the internal CCTV footage and later verified by Senior officers. This incident led to a disciplinary authority invoking Article 311(2)(b) of the Constitution, which allows for dismissal without formal departmental inquiry when it is "not reasonably practical" to conduct one. The authorities justified the action, citing the degrading and humiliating nature of the act, the vulnerable status of the contractual female operator and the existence of clear CCTV evidence. The Single Judge set aside the dismissal on procedural grounds, holding that the officer was not given an opportunity of a hearing, violating the principles of natural justice. There was insufficient justification for dispensing with a departmental inquiry. The Single Judge concluded that the threshold for invoking Article 311(2)(b) was not met. The State challenged this decision, arguing that the detailed reasons were recorded for dispensing with the inquiry and that it was impractical to expect testimony from a vulnerable contractual female officer against her superior officer. During the hearing, the bench made strong remarks on the officer's conduct. "In this kind of a case a strong disciplinary action has to be taken against the officer. And not only departmentally, it is a criminal offence. Smell the breath of all male officers, this is how he treats his female companions in the office? It is shocking! He should have smelled it. Criminal chargesheet should be filed against this person". When the officer's counsel argued that the female operator had no complaint, the bench responded;"she may not, we have seen the video. If this is brought to the court that this is how he is treating women officers". The court further questioned the officer's suitability, "We cannot accept this kind of conduct.. How is he going to protect common women in the society if he cannot protect his officers,"The counsel for the officer argued that the conduct, while improper, did not justify dispensing with the inquiry and that the authorities acted in haste by imposing the extreme penalty of dismissal without due process. The bench, however, noted that sometimes inquiry is dispensed with to save the reputation of the female officers. "Sometimes the inquiries are dispensed with to save the image and reputation of women officers, there are instances you will find judgments on that". Thus, the matter was listed for further consideration on July 14, 2026. The court indicated that it would examine the issue in detail, remarking that there is "no hurry to come to the rescue of this kind of person", but emphasized that justice will ultimately prevail. Case Title: State of Madhya Pradesh v Rajesh Kumar Tripathi [WA-680-2026]For State: Advocate Abhijeet AwasthiFor Respondent: Senior Advocate Naman Nagrath with Advocate Suyash VyasClick here to read/download the Order

“How Will He Protect Women?”: MP High Court Slams Cop For Making Female Operator Check Male Officers' Breath

Jayanti Pahwa

Tags