Departmental dismissal after criminal acquittal can stand where service rules permit action and enquiry findings meet the probability standard.

Rule 16.3 of the Punjab Police Rules was applied to assess whether a police officer's dismissal could stand after acquittal in the criminal case. The acquittal was not treated as an absolute bar because the record showed prosecution witnesses had turned hostile and may have been won over. In disciplinary proceedings, the governing standard remained preponderance of probabilities, so departmental action could be sustained where the enquiry findings justified it. The dismissal from service was therefore upheld and the challenge failed.

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Issues: Whether a police officer's dismissal from service could be sustained despite acquittal in the criminal case, having regard to Rule 16.3 of the Punjab Police Rules.

Analysis: The governing service rule restricted departmental punishment after a criminal acquittal only subject to specified exceptions. The acquittal in the criminal case was not treated as a conclusive bar where the record showed that prosecution witnesses had turned hostile and had likely been won over. The standard in a disciplinary proceeding remained preponderance of probabilities, and an acquittal in criminal proceedings did not automatically nullify departmental action when the service rules permitted such action on the facts found in the enquiry.

Conclusion: The dismissal from service was valid and the challenge to it failed.

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