In service law, does suppression of a criminal antecedent in a verification form require that the candidate had knowledge of the antecedent?

Yes. Suppression presupposes an awareness of the fact suppressed, and knowledge of a fact is a necessary pre-requisite for its non-disclosure; where the existence of a criminal antecedent is not shown to have been within the candidate's knowledge at the relevant time, he cannot be held to have suppressed or furnished false information.

Service Law — Suppression of criminal antecedents — Termination of service — Bona fide non-disclosure — Two-pronged enquiry — Service Law — Suppression of criminal antecedents — Knowledge is a pre-requisite for suppression — Held: Knowledge of a fact is a necessary pre-requisite for its non-disclosure; suppression presupposes an awareness of what is suppressed. Where a criminal antecedent is not shown to have been within the candidate's knowledge, he cannot be held to have suppressed it. (¶31) Service Law — Suppression of criminal antecedents — Two-pronged enquiry before termination — Held further: Before terminating services for suppression of criminal antecedents, the employer must undertake a two-pronged enquiry: whether there was in truth any suppression, having regard to the candidate's knowledge; and whether the facts, including gravity of the offence and the post, merit termination. (¶24) Service Law — Suppression of criminal antecedents — Onus on candidate to prove lack of awareness — Held further: Lack of awareness of a criminal antecedent is itself a fact that must be established by the candidate with cogent and reliable material; a bare plea of ignorance, without such material, will not suffice to escape liability. (¶32) Service Law — Termination without application of mind — Reinstatement — Held further: Since the authorities presumed that a criminal antecedent automatically rendered the appellant ineligible without the two-pronged enquiry, the termination is illegal and without application of mind; he is directed to be reinstated with consequential benefits, backwages restricted to 50%. (¶33, 34, 35)

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