# The State of Rajasthan and Ors. vs Phool Singh

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## Report card

By judgment dated 2 September 2022 in Civil Appeal No. 5930 of 2022, the Supreme Court of India (Coram: S. Ravindra Bhat, Sudhanshu Dhulia, JJ.) upheld the disciplinary action taken against the Phool Singh (Constable).

- Register number: RJ 11 CW 0001
- Case reference: Civil Appeal No. 5930 of 2022 / 2022 LiveLaw (SC) 735
- Court and date: Supreme Court of India (Coram: S. Ravindra Bhat, Sudhanshu Dhulia, JJ.), 2 September 2022
- Officer(s) at the material time: Phool Singh (Constable)
- Present service status: Not ascertained from the cited sources.
- Provisions invoked: Section 392 of the Indian Penal Code, 1860; Section 3 of the Arms Act, 1959; Section 25 of the Arms Act, 1959
- Finding of the Court (extract): “Therefore, in the present case the acquittal of the respondent is not an honourable acquittal, but an acquittal given due to a “benefit of doubt”. Under these circumstances and in view of the position of law as stated above, this …” (at para 14)
- Verdict, sentence and quantum: Disciplinary action upheld. Sentence: dismissal.
- Present status of the proceedings: No further proceedings are recorded in the cited sources; the judgment is the concluded position shown.
- Source orders: [Judgment / order (primary source)](https://indiankanoon.org/doc/91078594/); [Permanent link to this record](https://datalibertarian.in/babuwatch/incident/CW-2022-0018)

**Record:** CW-2022-0018 (compiler id CWC-0324); case SUPREM-024
**Title:** The State of Rajasthan and Ors. vs Phool Singh
**Court:** Supreme Court of India; judges: S. Ravindra Bhat; Sudhanshu Dhulia
**Case number / citation:** Civil Appeal No. 5930 of 2022 / 2022 LiveLaw (SC) 735
**Judgment:** 2022-09-02 (2022, day precision)
**Incident date:** 1987-10-15 (1987)
**Place:** Dholpur, Rajasthan; city town: Mania; police station or unit: Mania Police Station; force: state_police
**Category:** Bribery & extortion
**Sub-category:** extortion
**Outcome:** Disciplinary action upheld (disciplinary_upheld)
**Sections:** IPC 392; Arms Act 1959 s.3; Arms Act 1959 s.25
**Officers (gated display forms):** Phool Singh (Constable) (1 in record)
**Victims:** Mania man (1 in record)
**Sentence / compensation:** dismissal
**Sentence type:** dismissal (dismissal)

The Supreme Court set aside judgments of the Single Judge and Division Bench of the Rajasthan High Court (Jaipur Bench) that had quashed the disciplinary dismissal of Constable Phool Singh of Mania Police Station, Dholpur. On 15 October 1987, while off-duty but dressed in uniform, Phool Singh accosted motorcyclist Mahesh Kumar, demanded Rs. 100, seized his vehicle upon non-payment, and waved an illegal firearm at a gathering crowd before discharging it. Although an appellate court later acquitted him under Section 392 IPC and Section 3/25 Arms Act on the ground of benefit of doubt, the Supreme Court ruled that a benefit-of-doubt acquittal is not an honourable acquittal and cannot invalidate departmental proceedings, thereby confirming his dismissal. Matters not addressed in the cited judgment text are not recorded here.

> Therefore, in the present case the acquittal of the respondent is not an honourable acquittal, but an acquittal given due to a “benefit of doubt”. Under these circumstances and in view of the position of law as stated above, this appeal is allowed and the order dated 29.01.2014 of the learned Single Judge and the order dated 09.09.2020 of the Division Bench of Rajasthan High Court, Jaipur Bench are hereby set aside.

**Sources (2):** [indiankanoon.org](https://indiankanoon.org/doc/91078594/); [livelaw.in](https://www.livelaw.in/top-stories/supreme-court-employee-disciplinary-proceedings-criminal-case-acquittal-state-of-rajasthan-vs-phool-singh-2022-livelaw-sc-735-208343)
**Verification:** V2 · Externally reported
**Review:** Solo Staff combined review (one combined attestation) — not yet recorded
**admin category:** misconduct
**admin subcategory:** extortion
**allegations:** {'category': 'Other', 'primary': True, 'position': 'Material fact supported', 'position_explainer': 'Reliable material supports a specifically documented fact relevant to that allegation, not necessarily the full allegation, causation, intent, unlawfulness, or responsibility.', 'official_finding_relation': 'supports allegation'}
**anonymised:** False
**court quote para:** 14
**display title redacted:** The State of Rajasthan and Ors. vs Phool Singh
**followup history:** {'date': '2026-09-19', 'scope': 'Round-8 full re-verification: published record re-checked against the judgment text (outcome, officers, quote, key facts) plus methodology-compliance pass', 'method': 'skills-guided adversarial re-verification of the published record against the judgment text (reverify/t1-*/adversarial-8.jsonl)', 'result': 'holds', 'corrections_applied': \[\]}
**followup status:** checked
**institutional response:** {'date': '2022-09-02', 'action_type': 'Order issued', 'status': 'Concluded', 'authority': 'Supreme Court of India', 'independence': 'External', 'legal_effect': 'Binding', 'description': 'The Supreme Court of India upheld service punishment imposed on police personnel.', 'disposition': 'Disciplinary action · Procedural only', 'source': '2022 LiveLaw (SC) 735', 'recheck': 'Not yet re-checked.'}
**last checked:** 2026-09-19
**link checked per url:** {'url': 'https://indiankanoon.org/doc/91078594/', 'link_checked': None}; {'url': 'https://www.livelaw.in/top-stories/supreme-court-employee-disciplinary-proceedings-criminal-case-acquittal-state-of-rajasthan-vs-phool-singh-2022-livelaw-sc-735-208343', 'link_checked': None}
**retracted:** {"is_retracted": false}
**service:** police
**source assessment:** {"established": null, "basis": null}
**status:** current
**subcategory display:** extortion
**tier:** Tier A — Externally reported or officially recorded
**tier badge:** Externally reported
**tier history:** Tier A — Externally reported or officially recorded
**verdict:** accept
**verdict note:** Supreme Court set aside Rajasthan High Court orders and upheld the disciplinary dismissal of Constable Phool Singh for extortion and brandishing an illegal firearm.
**verification badge:** V2 · Externally reported
**verification status:** V2
**watch:** babuwatch

Status: Disciplinary action upheld.

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