The Supreme Court on May 02, 2022 in the matter of Pawan Kumar v. Union of India observed that mere suppression of material/false information in a given case does not mean that the employer can arbitrarily discharge/terminate the employee from service.

In this case, the appellant was selected to the post of Constable in the Railway Protection Force (RPF). While he was undergoing training, he was discharged from service on the ground that he did not disclose that an FIR under Sections 148/149/323/506/356 IPC was registered against him and he was prosecuted in the said case. It was found that there was suppression of information/false declaration in the verification form. The High Court dismissed the writ petition filed by the appellant, and therefore he approached the Apex Court.

The Apex Court Bench noted –

“The criminal complaint/FIR in the present case was registered post submission of the application form. We have also taken into account the nature of the allegations made in the criminal case and that the matter was of trivial nature not involving moral turpitude. Further, the proceedings had ended in a clean acquittal.”

The Bench referring to the judgment in Avtar Singh v. Union of India and others, observed-

“The person who has suppressed the material information or has made false declaration indeed has no unfettered right of seeking appointment or continuity in service, but at least has a right not to be dealt with arbitrarily and power has to be judiciously exercised by the competent authority in a reasonable manner with objectivity having due regard to the facts of the case on hand.”

Observing this, the Bench directed to reinstate the appellant in service on the post of Constable.