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7. It is also submitted by the petitioner's counsel that there was no basis for the DIG to arrive at a conclusion that the petitioner's acquittal was not an honourable acquittal. It is further submitted that whether acquittal of the petitioner was honourable or not, is not a relevant consideration for the purposes of Rule 673(c) of the Manual. Petitioner's counsel has thus submitted that the impugned order is unsustainable in law and fit to be quashed.

12. The other submission on behalf of the petitioner that there was no scope of going into the issue whether the acquittal was honourable or not, and also to conclude that the acquittal was not an honourable acquittal is, in the opinion of the Court, equally unsustainable in law. As per Rule 673(c), if in the process of verification roll, the character of the applicant is reported to be "bad", then also candidate is required to be removed from the Force/denied enlistment.

13. It is not in dispute that the petitioner's acquittal was due to lack of evidence and because the parties had entered into a compromise. Such acquittal cannot be said to be an honourable acquittal, which is evident from the bare perusal of recent decision of the Apex Court in the case of Union of India and others vs. Methu Meda, reported in (2022) 1 SCC 1. Paragraphs 20 and 21 of this judgment contain expression of the law governing the two Patna High Court CWJC No.3805 of 2021 dt.11-10-2022 submissions advanced on behalf of the petitioner that there was no basis to conclude that his acquittal was not an honourable acquittal, or that the fact of acquittal being an honourable acquittal or not, was an irrelevant fact.

15. The decision of the Apex Court is clear in its expression and leaves no room for doubt that the petitioner's acquittal, being based on compromise and resultant lack of Patna High Court CWJC No.3805 of 2021 dt.11-10-2022 evidence, cannot be said to be an honourable acquittal. Once the acquittal is not an honourable one, this Court would observe that the authority was well within its jurisdiction to arrive at a conclusion that the character of the petitioner was not acceptable for the purposes of Rule 673(c) of the Manual.