A bench headed by Justice Pradeep Nandrajog disallowed Ram Chander Singh'' petition filed against his dismissal from the force after being caught at a frontier post in the North 24 Pargnas district in west Bengal on November 13, 1998.

Singh took the plea that he received the envelope, containing the bribe money, after being asked by a fellow constable that a civilian wanted to deliver some necessary documents.

He also alleged that his one of the senior officers had earlier threatened him.

"Prima facie, the petitioner (Singh) receiving the envelope, in a suspicious circumstance assumes significance and militates against his innocence," the court said, adding that moreover, he was not authorised to receiving any such communication.

"It may be noted at the outset that Singh never suggested during cross examination to any witness that he was deputed or authorised to receive the mail on behalf of either the unit or any officer or jawan in the unit, the bench also comprising Justice Suresh Kait said in the judgement.

The court relied on the testimony of Saroj Kumar Singh, a senior officer of BSF, who had deposed that a trap was laid to catch Singh after it came to notice that he used to take illegal gratifications for facilitating smuggling across the Indo-Bangladesh border.

Bhakta Halder, an alleged smuggler, was provided currency notes by the BSF officers and they were later recovered from the possession of Singh, the officer had testified.

"It was not his (Singh''s) duty to receive the ''dak'' and even as per him the stated envelope was not addressed to him required the petitioner to answer as to why did he receive the envelope and with reference to his defence, his conduct of receiving the envelope is also a piece of incriminating evidence... the writ petition is dismissed.