Candidates must truthfully disclose their criminal antecedents, and the employer has the right to consider such antecedents in employment decisions.

JUDGMENT :

Jagmohan Bansal, J.

1. The petitioner through the instant petition under Articles 226 of the Constitution of India is seeking setting aside of communication dated 13.07.2016 (Annexure P-14) whereby the candidature of the petitioner for the post of Peon has been cancelled.

2. The petitioner in November’ 2014 applied for the post of Peon with respondent-bank. The petitioner at initial stage filed application form and thereafter at the time of interview submitted attestation form. The petitioner appeared for the interview conducted by the respondent-Bank and stated that no criminal case is pending against him whereas FIR No. 121 dated 30.12.2011 under Sections 419, 420, 120-B IPC was already pending against him and he was facing trial in the said FIR. The petitioner was acquitted vide judgment dated 15.07.2015 passed by JMIC, Kapurthala in the said FIR. The respondents vide impugned communication dated 13.07.2016 has cancelled candidature of the petitioner on the ground of non-disclosure of criminal antecedents.

3. Mr. Vivek Thakur, Advocate submits that due to inadvertence the petitioner did not disclose pendency of criminal trial against him. He was ultimately acquitted, thus, respondents were supposed to take lenient view.

4. Per contra, Mr. R.S. Bhatia, Advocate submits that petitioner was duty bound to disclose his antecedents and it is settled proposition of law that in case of non-disclosure of criminal case, the employer at any stage may terminate an employee from service.

5. I have heard counsel for the parties and perused the record.

6. The conceded position emerging from the record is that the petitioner was involved in FIR No. 121 dated 30.12.2011. The petitioner came to be acquitted vide judgment dated 15.07.2015 of JMIC, Kapurthala after filing of application and interview. The petitioner, as per attestation form, was supposed to disclose his antecedents. The petitioner did not disclose his antecedents in the attestation form. In the attestation form dated 20.11.2014, there was a specific column enjoining the candidates to disclose factum of arrest or detention or conviction by Court of law for any offence. The said para with reply of petitioner is reproduced as below:-

“12. Have you ever been arrested or kept under detention or bound down/fined/convicted by a Court of law for any offence, or debarred/disqualified by the Public Service Commission from appearing at its examination selections or debarred from taking any examination or restricted by authority/institution?”

-NO-

7. A three Judge Bench of Supreme Court in Avtar Singh v. Union of India, (2016) 8 SCC 471 has adverted with question of appointment of a candidate who was/is involved in a criminal case. The Court after noticing plethora of judgments has culled out legal position as below :

“38. We have noticed various decisions and tried to explain and reconcile them as far as possible. In view of the aforesaid discussion, we summarise our conclusion thus:

38.1. Information given to the employer by a candidate as to conviction, acquittal or arrest, or pendency of a criminal case, whether before or after entering into service must be true and there should be no suppression or false mention of required information.

38.2. While passing order of termination of services or cancellation of candidature for giving false information, the employer may take notice of special circumstances of the case, if any, while giving such information.

38.3. The employer shall take into consideration the government orders/instructions/rules, applicable to the employee, at the time of taking the decision.

38.4. In case there is suppression or false information of involvement in a criminal case where conviction or acquittal had already been recorded before filling of the application/verification form and such fact later comes to knowledge of employer, any of the following recourse appropriate to the case may be adopted:

38.4.1. In a case trivial in nature in which conviction had been record