New Delhi: The Supreme Court has said the standard of rectitude to be applied to any person seeking appointment in a law enforcement agency must always be higher and more rigorous for the simple reason that possession of higher moral conduct is one of the basic requirements for appointment to a post as sensitive as that in the police service.
The apex court made this observation while upholding the decision of the Madhya Pradesh Police not to appoint a POSCO-accused as a police constable, despite his acquittal in the case.
A bench comprising Justices Hima Kohli and Rajesh Bindal said the respondent was charged with non-compoundable offences of a serious nature. “We are of the firm view that the judgment of the trial Court cannot be treated as a clean acquittal,” the bench noted. It observed that an acquittal in a Protection of Children from Sexual Offences (POSCO) Act, case cannot be said to be a clean one when the trial has seen witnesses turning hostile, and the complainant had reneged from the statement made to the police in view of a settlement arrived at with the respondent.
The top court noted that it is evident from the facts narrated that after the chargesheet was filed, the respondent had arrived at a compromise with the complainant and filed an application under Section 320 of the CrPC, based on which the offence under Section 341 IPC was compounded. It further added that the remaining offences for which the respondent was charged i.e. Section 354(D) of the IPC and Section 11 (D)/12 of the POCSO Act, were non-compoundable and therefore, the matter was taken to trial.
The bench noted that the respondent was acquitted by the trial court primarily on account of the fact that the complainant did not support the case set up by the prosecution and the other prosecution witnesses had turned hostile. “In such circumstances, the respondent’s plea that he had been given a clean acquittal in the criminal case, is found to be devoid of merits”, it said.
The respondent has made a candid disclosure of the criminal case, which had culminated in an acquittal while applying for the post of constable. The Madhya Pradesh Police had deemed the accused unfit for the appointment, even though he had been acquitted in the POCSO case filed against him.
“Being mindful of the fact that the case involved moral turpitude and the respondent was charged with non-compoundable offences of a serious nature, we are of the firm view that the judgment of the trial court cannot be treated as a clean acquittal”, said the apex court, in its judgment passed on September 20.