New Delhi: The Delhi Police has dismissed 12 constables from service after a departmental inquiry found the personnel guilty of submitting fake driving licences during their recruitment process 14 years ago.
The constables, recruited via an exam in 2007, were posted with the Police Control Room (PCR) unit.
In the dismissal order dated 11 November, DCP (Operations and PCR) Pankaj Kumar noted details of the inquiry against the constables. ThePrint has accessed a copy of the order.
The alleged recruitment scam came to light in 2012 when one of the candidates, Sultan Singh, who had earlier applied in the 2007 exam, applied again for the post of constable (driver). His 2012 application for the exam conducted by DCP/Recruitment came with the same driving licence as submitted in 2007.
A verification conducted by DCP Special Branch found that the said licence wasn’t issued by the concerned authority in Mathura.
“This verification report raised question/doubt about driving license in respect of all 81 candidates whose driving license reports were received dated 12.11.2008,” the dismissal order read.
Following this, the matter was transferred to the Crime Branch for further probe, upon the Delhi Police commissioner’s instructions. The city police then sent letters to the driving licence authorities in Mathura, seeking details.
The inquiry revealed that the records of the licences that the 12 constables submitted weren’t found in the licencing authorities’ records and weren’t issued in the name of the holders.
A verification report dated 12 November 2019 exposed the alleged scam and an FIR was registered against the 12 constables on 14 August 2020 for cheating and forgery under Indian Penal Code sections.
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What the constables said in defence
The constables under question provided a joint defense statement in the matter on 23 August this year and were called in for an in-person representation on 1 November.
“In their representation, as well as defense statement, they mainly pleaded that the FIR itself isn’t a substantive piece of evidence, the delinquents have fulfilled the required formalities whatsoever but have been victimised/cheated at the hands of the Mathura Transport Authority and not committed any act contrary to law…” the 11 November order read.
“Delhi Police department was also responsible to verify the license instantly just after the recruitment and not after 13 years, issued driving licenses have also been renewed by the same authority, no proper record has been maintained by the authority officials and that at the time of the issuance, the delinquents had have no mechanism to judge whether the authority stuff has issued genuine or duplicate license…” it added.
The order said these grounds are “untenable” and the pleas are “devoid of merit and substance”.
(Edited by Amit Upadhyaya)
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