Pankaj Kumar Chaudhary, an IPS officer from Rajasthan, has been dismissed from service by the Ministry of Home Affairs due to "grave personal misconduct" on grounds of an alleged extramarital relationship. Chaudhary was serving as the Commandant of Police Training School in Jhalawar district.
The action against the 2009-batch IPS officer of Rajasthan cadre was taken for establishing relations with another woman with whom he had a child. The order said the official violated rule 3 (1) of the All India Services (Conduct) Rules, 1968.
The rule provides that every member of the service shall at all times maintain absolute integrity and devotion to duty and shall do nothing which is unbecoming of a member of the service. An inquiry was initiated against the officer in April 2016 on the basis of a complaint from his wife.
The then government forwarded the case to the Ministry of Home Affairs with a recommendation to impose a suitable major penalty on him. The Ministry sought comments from the Union Public Services Commission (UPSC) which advised his dismissal from the service.
Chaudhary married on December 4, 2005, and legally separated on May 1, 2018. During this period, he entered into a relationship with another woman and fathered a child from her, the order said. The male child was born on May 14, 2011, in Jaipur, it said.
Chaudhary, 44, who hails from Varanasi, has landed into other controversies as well while he was the superintendent of police of Jaisalmer (February-July 2013) and Bundi (January-September 2014).
(Inputs from agencies)
