- (1.) No affidavit is called for since the order of the disciplinary authority and the order of the appellate authority cannot be amplified or embellished by way of any affidavit. The petitioner, an Inspector with the Railway Protection Force, is alleged to have been caught red-handed with three bags full of arms and ammunition apparently obtained from anti-social and subversive elements in the North-East for disposal in West Bengal. The petitioner appears to have been intercepted at the Guwahati Railway Station whereupon it is alleged that the petitioner pounced on the police party and trained a loaded firearm at the RPF officer and threatened to kill him. The petitioner was apparently over-powered and disarmed by the staff at the Guwahati Station. A criminal complaint under the Arms Act and the Penal Code was lodged against the petitioner, he was placed under suspension and was even arrested before being enlarged on bail. The criminal case is pending.
(2.) The Inspector General-cum-Chief Security Commissioner of RPF, as the disciplinary authority or the authority competent to impose a punishment on the petitioner, took up the proceedings and, without reference to the petitioner or seeking the petitioner's oral or written representation, conducted summary proceedings whereat the petitioner was dismissed by an order of December 15, 2011. An appeal preferred by the petitioner has been rejected, though one of the paragraphs in the appeal requires close scrutiny: "It is clear from the record that the incriminating arms/ammunitions were found in the bag which was in physical and conscious possession of the appellant. Moreover, the appellant never brought this plea, now taken at a belated stage, to the notice of any senior officer either by mobile phone or any other means of communication. Therefore, his plea cannot be accepted."
(3.) The plea of the petitioner that is referred to in the appeal is reflected at paragraphs 12, 13 and 14 of his appeal or supplemental petition filed in the appeal: "12. My submission in the case is that there was another person who was sitting by my side on the bench on platform No. 1 at Guwahati Rly station. He was carrying one bag of black colour and the Arms and ammo in question were recovered from that bag. "13. I don't have any knowledge of who he was and from where he came but he appeared to be a Bengali as he was talking to someone on mobile in Bengali. He was short in build. Black in colour. And some cloths were also recovered from that bag, which are not of my size. "14. I emphasised on this point but IPF Guwahati was hell bent on making a case. This is where the fumbling took place in between him and me.";