Punjab and Haryana High Court. (File)
THE PUNJAB and Haryana High Court on Friday sought a response from the Haryana government and its Minister of Industries Vipul Goel on HCS officer Sandeep Singh’s petition against his suspension by the government earlier this week.
In his plea, the sub-divisional officer had stated that he was suspended at the instance of Goel against whom he had filed a case for defamation.
While issuing the notice to the government and Goel, Justice Ritu Bahri gave a week’s time to them to file their response and adjourned the hearing to October 11. Alleging that Goel has acted totally in contravention of the law, Sandeep Singh said in the plea, “Such action is totally unjustifiable and requires to be struck down immediately. If such situation is allowed to prevail, it would lead to total failure of democracy and the rights of the citizens of India as guaranteed by the Constitution of India would be infringed.”
Sandeep Singh was posted in Mahendergarh district and during a District Grievance Redressal Committee Meeting held at Narnaul on September 20, Goel had allegedly “passed derogatory remarks” against him and his father after he was told that Sandeep Singh was son of a former minister and was not present at the meeting.
In his plea, Sandeep Singh said he was on leave on the day as his father was not keeping well. However, a government counsel, in the preliminary submission to the plea on Friday, said the leave was not sanctioned.
Verbal orders were given by Goel to the Deputy Commissioner to suspend Sandeep Singh and also chargesheet him, the plea reads. On September 27, Sandeep Singh wrote to the Mahendergarh Deputy Commissioner for legal action against Goel for the alleged use of derogatory and defamatory remarks against him and his father. On the same day, he also filed a criminal complaint under Sections 500 (defamation) and 504 (intentional insult) of the IPC.
The counsels representing Sandeep Singh argued before the High Court that the District Grievance Committee – Goel is its Chairman – had no constitutional authority to pass such an order and the suspension had been ordered only because Sandeep Singh’s father was is a former minister belonging to an opposition party in the state.
“Goel has got the petitioner suspended by using his influence as he is a Minister in the Haryana Government,” the plea reads, adding he was never called to the September 20 meeting and also there was no agenda in the meeting related to his official post.