HC refuses to reinstate BSF constable dismissed for contact with Pak intel

New Delhi: The Delhi High Court has refused to interfere with the dismissal of a BSF constable who was allegedly in contact with a suspected Pakistan Intelligence Operative (PIO) since 2018 and was found to be in possession of four mobile phones and five SIM cards while being deployed on Indo-Pakistan Border.

A Bench headed by Justice Manmohan dismissed the petitioner constable's plea for reinstatement and said his "explanation" that he used the devices to talk to his family members and that he brought one instrument to repair and purchased another for his son, was "completely fanciful and has been rightly rejected by the competent authority".

The Bench, also comprising Justice Navin Chawla, said the petitioner's claim that there was no cogent evidence against him cannot be accepted and there was no infirmity in the authorities' decision to dispense with the formal disciplinary inquiry before passing the order of dismissal.

"The allegation against the petitioner is of him having regularly contacted a PIO. Clearly, if a show cause notice is to be issued to him and a reply thereto is to be sought, the same is likely to jeopardise the national security as certain vital operational and deployment details may come into focus in such inquiry.

"The source and material for forming an opinion of the person contacted being a PIO would also need to be disclosed. The opinion/satisfaction of respondent no.3 (commandant concerned), therefore, cannot be said to be unreasonable or perverse warranting any interference by this Court in exercise of its powers of judicial review," the court

stated.