The Indian Express ·
Using service weapon in brawl ‘unbecoming’ of CISF member, rules Calcutta High Court
The Calcutta High Court upheld the punishment of a CISF constable, ruling that misconduct need not have a statutory definition when the conduct violates the discipline expected of an armed force.
The Calcutta High Court has upheld a Central Industrial Security Force (CISF) constable’s compulsory retirement over a 2013 scuffle with a fellow constable. When a member of an armed force gets into a physical fight with a colleague, whether on or off duty, and uses a service weapon, it is clear proof of “unbecoming” of “one of the disciplined Forces of India”, the court ruled.
Justice Ajay Kumar Gupta was hearing a plea filed by a man who was a constable with CISF but was punished with compulsory retirement because he was found guilty of “misconduct” and “engaging in an altercation” with a fellow constable.
“The absence of a codified definition does not leave the term at large; conduct involving a physical scuffle with a fellow member of a disciplined, armed force, in the course of duty or even out of duty hours, and involving recourse to a service weapon, is evidently conduct unbecoming of a member of such a force,” the September 9 order read.
