The petitioner’s candidature was rejected for the post of grade II police constable, Grade II Jail Warder and Fireman, for the reason that the petitioner failed to disclose his involvement in criminal case and being acqitted on the basis of benefit of doubt, in the application form. But however, the petitioner has disclosed about his involvement in

[12/4, 13:35] Sekarreporter1: W.P.No.8135 of 2020 and
W.M.P.Nos.9665 & 9667 of 2020
IN THE HIGH COURT OF JUDICATURE AT MADRAS
Reserved on : 18.11.2020
Pronounced on : 04.12.2020
CORAM :
THE HONOURABLE MR.JUSTICE V.PARTHIBAN
W.P.No.8135 of 2020 and
W.M.P.Nos.9665 & 9667 of 2020
K.Balachandran
… Petitioner
-Vs-
1.The Chairman,
Tamil Nadu Uniformed Service Recruitment Board,
No.807, P.T. Lee Chengalvaraya Naicker Maaligai,
Anna Salai, Chennai 600 002.
2.The Director General of Police,
Office of the Director General of Police,
No.1, Dr.Radhakrishnan Salai,
Mylapore, Chennai 600 004.
3.The Superintendent of Police,
Office of the Superintendent of Police,
Vellore District, Vellore.
… Respondents
1/35
[12/4, 13:36] Sekarreporter1: The petitioner’s candidature was rejected for the post of grade II police constable, Grade II Jail Warder and Fireman, for the reason that the petitioner failed to disclose his involvement in criminal case and being acqitted on the basis of benefit of doubt, in the application form. But however, the petitioner has disclosed about his involvement in criminal case in the application form. Notwithstanding the same, the respondents have rejected his candidature on the fact that he was acquitted on the basis of “benefit of doubt”.

For the nature of minor offences as in the above case, his Lordship held that ” to hold every person involved in a criminal case as a criminal across the spectrum, regardless of the nature of offence charged, is a sordid reflection of a warped understanding of the jaded administration, branding someone a criminal and barring him from seeking public employment for his life time, even if the offences were trivial in nature, amounted to integrating “Mccarthyism” into the decision making process in the police administration”.