Guj HC upholds CRPF’s dismissal of jawan ,His Long Leave Demoralised Other Jawans In Naxal-Hit Areas

Ahmedabad: The Gujarat high court has upheld a Central Reserve Police Force’s (CRPF) decision to dismiss a soldier on ground that lengthy leave in the Naxal-affected areas could demoralise other jawans who live in tough conditions.
Homirbhai Gojiya from Jamnagar district joined CRPF as soldier/GD in December 2005. In 2009, when he was posted at the Naxal affected areas in Chhattisgarh, he got a message that his father suddenly fell ill. Gojiya rushed for his treatment after obtaining casual leave for 20 days from October 15 to November 4, 2009.
However, Gojiya did not return on time and remained absent till March 3, 2010, when he joined duty at Rajnandgaon, Chhattisgharh. The higher-ups were not ready to tolerate this and
issued a chargesheet against him the next month. The department appointed an inquiry officer and conducted departmental proceedings. After inquiry, he was issued a show-cause notice, asking him to explain why disciplinary action should not be taken against him for remaining absent, which demoralised other soldiers who were on duty in harsh conditions. Ultimately, Gojiya was dismissed in December last year on ground that his absence from duty is a serious misconduct and it also demoralised other jawans who were on duty in Naxal-affected areas.
After getting fired from the job, Gojiya approached the high court requesting the court to direct CRPF to take him back on duty. On hearing his application, a bench of justice V M Sahai and justice G B Shah upheld the decision of CRPF and dismissed the petition, observing that the court did not find any merit in it.

The Charge


• Homirbhai Gojiya, a CRPF jawan, when posted in a Naxal-affected area in Chhattisgarh, got the message that his father suddenly fell ill

• He rushed for his treatment after obtaining casual leave for 20 days from October 15 to November 4, 2009

• However, he did not return on time and remained absent till March 3, 2010

• When he came back, the higherups issued a chargesheet against him as they were not ready to tolerate it

• Gojiya, who was issued a show-cause notice, was dismissed in December last year on the ground that his absence from duty was a serious misconduct and it demoralised other jawans