Rajkot: A sessions court in Junagadh convicted a State Reserve Police (SRP) constable of deserting his post and disobeying repeated reporting orders, sentencing him to 20 months of rigorous imprisonment in a 14-year-old case.Additional sessions judge C K Pipliya found 45-year-old Vikramsinh Jadeja guilty under Section 14(g)(1) and 14(g)(2) of the Gujarat State Reserve Police Force Act, 1951. The court also fined him Rs 1,000, with an additional four months of rigorous imprisonment in default of payment.Jadeja was serving under platoon commander R B Vala who was appointed assistant nodal officer for the 2012 Gujarat assembly election. Jadeja was working in Vala’s company.According to the prosecution, Jadeja was attached to SRPF Group-17, Chela, Jamnagar and was undergoing basic training as a trainee armed police constable at SRP Training Centre in Sorath Chowki. On May 19, 2012, around 5pm, he left the training facility without authorisation or notifying his superiors.Despite multiple notices served on him between June and Oct 2012 directing him to report back to duty — particularly in view of the election arrangements — Jadeja failed to return. On Oct 24, 2012, an FIR was lodged against him at Junagadh Taluka police station by Vala.At trial, the defence argued that Jadeja had reported back to duty later in Jamnagar and was absent only due to severe illness, which he had noted while responding to a departmental notice.Additional public prosecutor D C Thaker countered that while some witnesses noted he looked unwell, no medical records, doctors’ prescriptions, or fitness certificates and certificates of being unfit were submitted to substantiate his claim.Upholding the prosecution’s case, the court observed that training constitutes an essential part of active duty and that leaving without sanction amounts to desertion under the law. The court highlighted that discipline forms the backbone of a police force, noting that the accused remained absent from his duty arbitrarily without informing his superior.“On reading of Section 14 of the Gujarat State Reserve Police Force Act, it is clear that if a reserve police officer leaves his place of duty or posting without the permission of his superior officer, he shall be deemed to have deserted his service. In the present case, the accused left the place of training without informing his superior officer. Since training forms part of his duty, the argument that the accused was not on active duty cannot be accepted,” the court observed.
