Chennai: A policeman making a representation to the DGP seeking permission to form a police association cannot be construed as misconduct, nor can it form the basis for issuing a departmental charge memo, the Madras high court has said.Justice Krishnaswamy Govindarajan made the observation while quashing the disciplinary proceedings initiated against V Nagalingam for making such a representation in 2004. The petitioner was allowed to retire from service, subject to the outcome of the proceedings.“This court has carefully perused the charges framed against the petitioner. The two charges relate solely to the petitioner submitting a representation to the DGP and the Chief Minister’s Special Cell requesting permission to form a police association,” the court said.An employee is well within their rights to submit representations to higher authorities, and it is ultimately for the administrative authorities to decide whether such a request can be acceded to. Merely submitting a representation cannot be construed as misconduct, nor can it form the basis for issuing a departmental charge memo, the judge added.In the present case, the petitioner has been subjected to disciplinary action since 2004 just for submitting a representation. Furthermore, there has been absolutely no progress in the disciplinary proceedings since 2007, and the petitioner has also retired from service in the meanwhile. The govt advocate has confirmed that no other charges or disciplinary proceedings are pending against the petitioner, the court said.“In view of the subsequent developments, the prolonged delay of over two decades since the issuance of the charge memo, and the fact that the charges are entirely flimsy and unsustainable in law, this court finds no legitimacy in the issuance or continuation of these charges. Consequently, the entire disciplinary proceedings deserve to be quashed,” the judge said.The court further directed the department to process and settle the entire pensionary, and retirement benefits due to the petitioner within 12 weeks.
