Baghpat: Intesar Ali, sub-inspector in Uttar Pradesh Police, has been suspended and transferred to the police lines, and all of this for keeping a beard without permission.
Keeping a beard without permission is simply not allowed for police officers and Intesar Ali was not willing to shave his beard
Ali had been warned three times before to shave off or look for requisite approval for the same.
But, the police officer didn’t look for approval and continued keeping his beard
SP Baghpat Abhishek Singh stated that according to the police manual just Sikhs are permitted to keep facial hair while all other police officer needs to stay clean-shaven.
The SP stated, “If any police personnel want to keep a beard, he has to seek permission for the same. Intesar Ali was repeatedly asked to seek permission but he did not comply and kept the beard without permission.”
Ali joined the police department as a sub-inspector and was posted in Baghpat since the previous three years.
He told journalists that he had applied for approval to keep facial hair however got no reply.
This is not even the first occurrence of such a case. Back in 2012, A Maharashtra police officer was suspended for wanting to keep a beard against service rules He then declined a proposal by the Supreme Court to let him join back on sympathetic grounds while the court dealt with the matter.
The police officer was at first permitted to have facial hair, if it was maintained, and kept neat and clean. The consent was later pulled back by the commandant as contrary to the standards and disciplinary procedures started against him.
The Bombay High Court later on Dec 12, 2012, ruled against him, saying that the force was a secular agency and order expected him to adhere to the secular rules. The High Court had likewise decided that keeping facial hair was not an essential right as it was anything but a fundamental principle of Islam. The bedside at that point moved toward the top court for help. The top court had remained the disciplinary procedures against him in Jan 2013.
The case has not seen the end as it’s still been pending for a hearing. His attorney had then referred to a 1989 circular for the military to argue that the principles spoke of allowing a beard provided the individual kept it to rest of his service.
