CHANDIGARH, Aug 13 — Nearly a decade after being injured in a firefight with Pakistan-based terrorists at Dinanagar police station, a Punjab Police inspector has won his legal battle for promotion to Deputy Superintendent of Police (DSP).
The Punjab and Haryana High Court ruled in favour of the officer, who was wounded during the July 27, 2015 terror attack in Gurdaspur district, saying the state had already decided to promote all injured personnel from that incident.
“The government, at its meeting, considered the incident at the police station and decided to grant one promotion to each employee. This was a conscious decision which was never withdrawn or modified,” Justice Jagmohan Bansal observed.
According to court records, the petitioner joined the force as an ASI (Probationer) in 1992 and was serving in the Punjab Armed Police when the attack occurred. At around 5:15 a.m., terrorists in army fatigues crossed from Pakistan, hijacked a Maruti car, and assaulted the Dinanagar station. The petitioner, among the first responders, sustained injuries in the exchange of fire.
He later received the President’s Police Medal for Gallantry with a ₹3,000 monthly allowance and the Parakaram Padak with ₹50,000. His plea for promotion was earlier denied on grounds that he had already been decorated.
Justice Bansal noted the Council of Ministers’ unanimous decision to promote those injured in the operation and said it had been implemented for other officers, including some lower in rank. He cited the promotion of Inspector Bikramjit Singh Brar to DSP for his role in an encounter with gangster Vicky Goundar, despite also holding the President’s Gallantry Medal.
“This court is of the considered opinion that the petitioner was also entitled to promotion from the rank of inspector to DSP,” the judge ruled, clarifying that no financial benefits would be given for the intervening period.
The state government did not dispute the Council’s decision or its implementation in similar cases, the court noted.
