Complete Police Verification Of Candidates Selected For Govt Service Within 6 Months Of Their Appointment : Supreme Court Directs All States

The Supreme Court warned against the careless and indifferent approach of the Police Authorities in failing to submit the Police Verification Report of candidates selected for government service appointments within the required timeframe, affecting the regularization of candidates. In this regard, the bench comprising Justice JK Maheshwari and Justice R Mahadevan issued a direction to “ the police official of all the States to complete the enquiry and file report as regards the character, antecedents, nationality, genuineness of the documents produced by the candidates selected for appointment to the Government service, etc., within a stipulated time provided in the statute / G.O., or in any event, not later than six months from the date of their appointment. The Appellant, claiming to be an Indian Citizen based on the migration certificate issued to his father, joined the government job in 1985, and a police verification report about his suitability to join services ought to have been submitted within three months from the date of an appointment. Setting aside the High Court's decision, the judgment authored by Justice Mahadevan noted that the enormous unexplained delay that occurred in submitting the Appellant's Police Verification Report could not justify the appellant's termination from the service, that too in violation of the principles of natural justice as mandated by precedents that a 'personal hearing should be given, before termination of employee from service'.