Antecedents to play greater role in recruitment of police force: Supreme Court

New Delhi: The Supreme Court has said the domain of considering the fitness and suitability of a candidate for the purpose of taking him in service belongs to the employer, as it upheld the decision to reject a candidate for recruitment in police force, even after his acquittal in a case of kidnap and rape of a minor girl.

A bench of Justices Ahsanuddin Amanullah and N V Anjaria said courts are not expected to override the wisdom of the employer and would not substitute its own views in such cases.

"But for the limited considerations namely arbitrariness, unreasonableness, whimsicalness or mala fide approach, the scope of judicial review on this score is extremely limited," the bench said.

The court allowed an appeal against the Madhya Pradesh High Court's division bench judgment of July 20, 2023, which had set aside a single bench decision declining to interfere with rejection of candidature of Rajkumar Yadav for the post of constable (driver).

The bench said, in case of recruiting a person into the service or continuing him in service or extending an employee some service benefit, his criminal antecedents, involvement in criminal activity, the conduct amounting to moral turpitude, registration of a criminal case as well as nature of his acquittal in a criminal case are all germane considerations to be applied.

The employer, who would be acting through a screening committee to sift such cases, has fairly a large realm of freedom to act, though without becoming arbitrary, the bench added.

"Every moral turpitude has its own counts and degree to become either abhorrent and unacceptable conduct, and would also amount to commission of offence under the law. In a given case, moral turpitude may not result in a legally proved guilt, and it may go unpunished for a variety of reasons," the bench said.

"Still, however, it remains a conduct against decency, morality and norms practiced in the civil society inviting a serious discount and disability for such a person in a given situation and given context,'' the bench added.

In a given case where the facts are stark, mere involvement of a person in an alleged offence or in the act of moral turpitude may become sufficient enough to apply it as a debilitating factor for such candidate to be offered employment, the court said.

"Antecedents of a candidate play an important role in the decision-making process by the screening committee. This dictum would operate with greater rigour when it comes to the recruitment and appointment to the disciplined force like police,'' the bench said.

More often than not, the bench stressed, the quality of law and order in the society and maintenance thereof depends upon the character of the persons serving in the police force.

"It becomes imperative that the recruitees in the disciplined force should be the persons beyond reproach and men with rectitude," the court said.

The High Court considered the fact that the candidate was honourably acquitted.

The bench, however, said that the concept of “honourably acquitted”, often became hazy.

"This court on several occasions observed that the expressions “honourable acquittal”, “acquittal of blame”, “fully acquitted” are unknown to the Code of Criminal Procedure, 1973 or the Penal Code, 1860. These phrases are coined in the judicial pronouncements," the court pointed out.

In the case, the court noted, the acquittal was founded on the benefit of doubt due to technical ground.

The bench also emphasised, the law is also well settled that even the departmental enquiry can proceed independent of the acquittal in criminal case and that mere exoneration would not entitle an employee to be reinstated as a necessary sequitur to the acquittal.

In its judgment of March 11, 2026, the bench held the High Court intruded into the functional realm of the screening committee and trampled upon its discretion which was validly exercised by the screening committee to treat the respondent candidate unsuitable to be employed in the police force.