BSF officer dismissed for threatening his senior he would 'shoot him', Delhi HC upholds dismissal [Read Judgment]

NEW DELHI: The Delhi High Court has upheld the dismissal of service of an ex-Border Security Force (BSF) officer who was terminated for telling his superior officer that “he will shoot him”.

The Court was hearing the plea of one Brijesh Kumar Singh challenging an order of the Summary Security Force Court (SSFC) dismissing the petitioner from service as well as sentencing him to suffer rigorous imprisonment for 6 months in a civil prison.

Dismissing the plea, the Court held, “Suffice to state, insofar as the first charge is concerned, the imputations are that the petitioner has used threatening language to his superior officer that “he would shoot him”. Similarly, the imputation qua second charge is that he has used insubordinate language to a constable of the same company and thrashed him on his face. So, as reiterated above, the charges which have been proved against the petitioner are very serious.”

The Court also noted that the penalty of dismissal which was also accompanied by the penalty of rigorous imprisonment for a period of 6 months in a civil prison, was already mitigated in the statutory plea preferred by Singh.

The SSFC had found Singh guilty of charges imposed under Sections 20(b) [using threatening language to superior officer] , 20(c) [using insubordinate language to senior officer], and 40 [an act prejudicial to good order and discipline of the force] of the BSF Act.

Adv. S. N. Shukla appearing for Singh argued that dismissal from service  is disproportionate to the charges leveled against him and the findings of the SSFC, the Court was not inclined to interfere with the same.

However, the bench of Justices V Kameswar Rao and Saurabh Banerjee held, “When the petitioner was employed in a disciplined force, this Court is of the view that the penalty of dismissal from service, should not be interfered with.”

Cause Title: Brijesh Kumar Singh v Union of India & Ors.

[Read Judgment]