JUDGMENT

Dr. Dhananjaya Y. Chandrachud, CJI.

1. Delay condoned.

2. Leave granted.

3. A disciplinary proceeding was convened against the petitioner for alleged acts of misconduct when he was posted as Officer Commanding B/30 Bn., CRPF. He was removed from service in July 1995.

4. After the appeal against the order of punishment was rejected, the respondent instituted proceedings under Article 226 of the Constitution. For the purpose of present discussion, it is not necessary to deal with all the intervening stages in the proceedings.

5. By an order dated 24 December 2019, the Division Bench of the High Court of Delhi directed that :

“34 For all of the aforementioned reasons, the order dated 16th October, 2018, passed by the DIG (CR&VIG) in the Directorate General, CRPF, imposing the penalty of removal from service on the Petitioner, is hereby set aside. The minor penalty as decided by the DA viz., “reduction to a lower stage in the scale of pay by one stage for a period not exceeding 3 years, without cumulative effect and adversely affecting pension” will be the penalty in the Petitioner’s case.

35 Consequently, the Petitioner is directed to be forthwith reinstated in service, with all con