Madhya Pradesh High Court: In a petition filed by the petitioners, Constables (General Duty) in the Madhya Pradesh Police Force, challenging impugned detailing them for training in a dummy team to participate in the police band, a single-judge bench of Vivek Jain, J., disposed of the petition with a direction that the petitioners would not be sent for training or participation in the police band without their written consent. The petitioners argued that they were being forced to undergo police band training without their consent. The main issue in hand was whether the petitioners c be compelled to undergo police band training without their written consent. The issue was previously addressed by a coordinate Bench of this Court in Hitesh Khtik v. State of M.P., order dated 21-02-2024, where the State assured that a police personnel would only be sent for band training if they were willing and had given their written consent. The State did not dispute this position in the current petition.
The Court referred to Hitesh Khtik (Supra), where the coordinate Bench of this Court established that no police personnel should be sent for band training without their willingness and written consent. The Court reiterated that this principle should apply to the current petitioners as well.
While disposing of the petition, the Court held that the petitioners would not be compelled to undergo training or participate in the police band if they did not give their written consent and directed the State to adhere to their earlier order in Hitesh Khtik (Supra).
[Pankaj Shukla v. State of M.P., 2024 SCC OnLine MP 5173, Decided on 06-08-2024]
Advocates who appeared in this case:
Shri N.N. Mishra, Counsel for the Petitioners
Shri Ved Prakash Tiwari, GA, Counsel for the Respondent/State
