The Madras High Court Bench here on Wednesday suggested that the State government could amend Tamil Nadu Special Police Subordinate Service (TNSPSS) Rules which prohibit even those facing petty criminal cases from being recruited in the police force.
Dismissing a writ petition filed by one such candidate, Justice S. Nagamuthu said: “I would like to remind the people in the helm of affairs that one of the salutary aims of the criminal law is to reform the individuals who have shown deviance from law and restore them to mainstream.
“If an individual’s future could be doomed by mere inclusion of his name as an accused in a petty case, the result would certainly be disastrous. It is not uncommon in the present day context that complaints are made out of animosity or enmity.
“Later on, it may turn out that the said case is false. For the simple inclusion of the name of an individual as an accused in a false First Information Report, he cannot be shown the doors when he seeks employment. It all depends upon the gravity of the offence in which one is involved.”
Stating that the fate of an individual could not be decided in a “blind manner” on the basis of his involvement in a petty case, the judge said he could not allow the present writ petition since a larger Bench of the High Court had upheld the validity of Rule 14(b) (iv) of the TNSPSS Rules last year.
Nevertheless, the State government could consider whether the rule required amendment in the light of the Delhi Police Service Rules which provided for constituting a screening committee to go into the antecedents of individual applicants and then decide whether he/she was fit for appointment, he said.
Mr. Justice Nagamuthu also directed the High Court Registry to forward a copy of his judgement to the Home Secretary, Law Secretary and the State Law Commission for initiating appropriate action on the basis of the suggestions made by him.
