M. SALEEM CHAUDHRY (CHAIRMAN).-----In this case the appellant was dismissed as Head Constable by the Superintendent of Police, Multan, on 30-9-1976 for allegedly substituting a foreign-made gun (which was case property) by a local made gun. The D. I. G., Multan Range, rejected his appeal, while a revision petition to the 1. G. Police was also dismissed. The appellant came up in appeal to this Tribunal vide Appeal No. 229 of 1977 witch was consigned to record because two criminal cases instituted against the appellant on the same matter were pending in Courts. When the two cases were finalised and the appellant was acquitted in both, the appellant sought to get his appeal revived. This Tribunal issued direction in the appeal tee the D. I.-G., Multan, to examine the ease afresh. On re-examination, the D. I.-G. Rejected the appeal. A revision petition to the I.-G. P. Was also turned down. Hence the present appeal before this Tribunal.'
2. Briefly, the facts of the case are that the appellant was serving as Moharrir in the Judicial Malkhana at Lodhran when he was entrusted with a valuable USSR made shot-gun (case property in F. I. R. No. 120 of 7-5-1975). Later it was found that the original weapon had disappeared and had been replaced by a Pakistan-made shot-gun. The appellant was 'charged with the misappropriation and replacement on the ground that he wanted to help the accused in the case.
3. The parties were heard. The appellant bad nothing new to add to his defence, already made before the departmental authorities, that he was not the criminal in the case but a mere scape- goat. That he was in the process of handing over charge of the Malkhana to his predecessor, Jan Muhammad, when the gun in question was brought there, and Jan Muhammad failed to record its receipt. That the gun was sent for by a Magistrate who replaced it, and the appellant being a poor minor official, was helpless to do anything. That this fact was confirmed by a prosecu--tion witness (S. I. Usman Ahmad) in the departmental enquiry conducted into the affair by Mushtaq Ahmad Khalid, P. I. Headquarters, Multan.
4. On behalf the respondent-Department, it was averred that the appellant never denied receipt of the foreign-made gun and that he had made up the story about the Magistrate in order to cover up his own complicity in doing away with the gun. It was stated that even if the story about the Magistrate's involvement in the matter was true, the appellant should have immediately sought the advice and help of his superiors so that the blame falling on him could be averted.
5. We have gone through the two judgments in respect of the criminal cases instituted against the appellant in this connexion. He has been acquitted in both. Before us too, the respondent Department has not been able to show with any certainty that the appellant was responsible for exchanging one weapon with another with criminal intent. But after hearing both parties at length we cannot convince ourselves that the appellant was not at fault at all. May be, he was the victim of circumstances, or, as the learned Special Judge Anti-Corruption, has held, he was involved by the officials of the Police Station concerned to save their own skin, but there certainly was negligence on his part which led him to such a pass. We hold therefore that the appellant's guilt in substituting the gun for his own motives is not established, but he could surely have been more vigilant and aware of his responsibility in the matter. His fault appears to b that he perhaps connived at the replacement, may be due to overwhelm in pressure on his relatively humble standing in service. We are told that no action was taken against the person who mis- appropriated the gun in A question. It does to some extent constitute an extenuating circumstance.
We accordingly substitute the penalty of dismissal by forfeiture of two year approved service of the appellant with effect from 30-9-1976 for showing negligence. The appellant will not receive any salary or financial benefits for these two years. The appeal is accepted to the extent above.