‘Affair Not Misconduct’: Allahabad High Court Stays Suspension of Police Officer
The Allahabad High Court has stayed the suspension of a police official accused of being in a relationship with another woman despite being married.
The bench of Justice Karunesh Singh Pawar, passing the order on May 9, stayed the suspension of Mohammad Mohsin Khan, a government servant, which was issued on the basis of allegations that he was in a sexual relationship with another woman. The order came in response to Khan’s petition challenging the legality of his suspension.
The petitioner contended that the state government acted mechanically while suspending him, relying solely on the recommendation made by the Additional Director General of Police (ADG) on March 6, 2025. He highlighted the absence of any independent satisfaction or reasoning recorded by the disciplinary authority before issuing the suspension order.
Khan’s counsel further argued that while Rule 29(1) of the U.P. Government Servants Conduct Rules, 1956 deems entering into a second marriage during the subsistence of the first as misconduct, merely maintaining a relationship with another woman without formalising it into a second marriage does not violate service rules.
The suspension, according to the petitioner, was also linked to an FIR lodged against him under Section 69 of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS) on allegations of adultery or related misconduct. Khan has already challenged the FIR before the high court, which granted him interim protection from the filing of a charge sheet in December 2024.
The court took into account previous judicial precedents, including the division bench ruling in V.N. Daipuria vs. State of U.P. and Shahjahan Khan vs. State of U.P., both of which clarified the threshold for defining "misconduct" in personal relationships of public servants.
On these grounds, the high court found prima facie merit in Khan’s contention and stayed the suspension order until further directions. The state government has been asked to file a counter affidavit within four weeks, and the case is next listed for hearing on July 28, 2025.
Case Title: Mohd Mohsin Khan vs State of UP and 3 Others
Download judgment here