A disciplinary hearing for former Osoyoos RCMP constable Amit Goyal has now been scheduled for March 8 in Vancouver.
This is the third time a hearing date has been set for Goyal, who was suspended with pay in June 2013.
Previous hearings were set for last July 28 and Aug. 31, but both were abruptly cancelled without explanation.
While the RCMP has not stated the reason for Goyal’s suspension, it follows an incident in which two vehicles were reported stolen from Goyal’s residence a week apart in the fall of 2012. Both were later found burned on Anarchist Mountain.
A local man, Steve Condon, claims he was set up to take the blame for the thefts, but he was later cleared by a lie detector test shortly before Goyal was suspended.
Condon has a criminal record with offences including fraud. He left Osoyoos early in 2013.
Since his suspension with pay, Goyal has been travelling the world, posting to Facebook photos of trips to such places as the Caribbean, Las Vegas, Italy and other locations, the Vancouver Province reported recently.
After the Province published its story on Dec. 30, Goyal’s Facebook privacy settings were changed to remove the photos from public view.
Goyal’s case has been dealt with under an older disciplinary process that was revised in November 2014. The new process is said to be faster, but it is not being applied retroactively to older cases such as Goyal’s.
Trail RCMP investigated the alleged auto thefts and recommended charges against Goyal, but the Crown declined to lay charges.
Goyal has not been charged with any offence and none of the allegations surrounding this incident have been proven in court.
Condon, the man initially suspected of the vehicle thefts, filed a civil lawsuit against Goyal, the RCMP and the province last June.
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