The law Commission has been asked to recommend changes to the CRPF Act after the Punjab and Haryana High Court in a recent order found the pre-Constitution law of 1949 of not being in conformity with the provisions in the Constitution and existing Criminal Procedure Code.
The law governing the largest paramilitary force allows personnel charged with minor offences to be tried, punished by a Commandant, who even has powers under the 1949 Act to terminate the service of the guilty officer without giving reason or a hearing to the affected personnel.
The HC order of April 30 came on an appeal by a CRPF constable Zuber Ahmed who was dismissed from service in 1993. Ahmed served on guard duty at the residence of former Punjab Chief Minister Prakash Singh Badal. While on duty, he entered the residence of the security office to ex-CM and caught hold of his wife. He was tried by the Commandant of 84th Battalion at Faridkot, where he confessed his crime and suffered a simple imprisonment "till the rising of the Court". The same day, the Commandant dismissed Ahmed from service.
The Court struck down the dismissal as the charge of outraging the modesty was not proved. The punishment he suffered was for remaining absent from his duty post for 10 minutes, which the Court held unjustified. Treating the case to be one where the officer acted in "excess" of his power, the Bench of Justice Rajiv Narain Raina examined Article 50 of Constitution which prescribes a clear separation of judicial and executive powers in public services of the State.
The Court was assisted by senior advocate RS Cheema and advocate Anil Malhotra in coming to the conclusion that the archaic CRPF Act needed a revamp. Most laws governing military and paramilitary forces are post-Constitution and lay down proper procedure to separate functions of Court from that of disciplinary proceedings. For instance, the Army and Navy Act have a procedure for Court martial with legal and Constitutional safeguards of prior hearing and recording of reasons. Even BSF Act of 1968 has a Security Force Court for this purpose. "Since CRPF is the largest Central reserve force, it can no longer be continued to be administered by an archaic pre-Constitutional law whose provisions are not in accordance with the protections guaranteed under Constitution of India as also principle of separation of judicial powers under CrPC 1973."
The Court asked Commission to prescribe mechanism separating judicial and executive role played by officers sitting as a Court and rationalising discretion allowing dismissal (being a departmental action) on a criminal charge.