Mahima
The Delhi High Court upheld the ruling of a Central Administrative Tribunal (CAT) to set aside the dismissal of a Rajasthan cadre IPS officer over bigamy charges.
The Delhi High Court observed that an act of bigamy cannot always result in the removal of the government servant from service.
The division bench of Justices Rajiv Sahai Endlaw and Amit Bansal observed, “The concept, definition and standards of morality also have been changing, with the changes in appearance, dressing, language etc; the behaviour which shocked 50 years ago is now considered as normal and/or best an aberration”.
The court further observed that the ethical standards have changed ever since the framing of All India Services (Conduct) Rules and what may have been unethical in 1968 is not necessarily unethical today.
The Court remarked, “Though living with another woman while having subsisting marriage may have been absolute no no till about 20 years back, in today’s time it is viewed differently.”
The IPS officer was dismissed from his service for living with a woman and having a son with her despite subsisting marriage with another woman for ten years.
Previous year, CAT set aside the order of the Disciplinary Authority following which Rajasthan government approached Delhi High Court contending it does not desire to have an officer ‘who has behaved so irresponsibly and in an ungentlemanly like fashion’.
The Court agreed that the IPS officer has committed an offence under Section 494 of the Indian Penal Code but it qualifies as an offence only if the aggrieved person files the complaint.
The Court held, “It is nowhere on record that there was any such complaint.so was not even the charge against the [officer]. The ethical standard of an act of bigamy has to be viewed in this light and depending on the facts and circumstances of each case.”
The Court also highlighted that the matrimonial relationship between the officer and his first wife was strained since before he joined as an IPS officer and they were living separately.
The court also noted that the IPS officer didn’t right after separation from the first wife indulged in an affair but did so after applying for divorce and gave the other woman ‘stature of wife and his name to the son begotten from his relationship’.