The Supreme Court on Tuesday set aside a Ministry of Home Affairs’ order rejecting Maharashtra-cadre IPS officer Abdur Rahman’s request of Voluntary Retirement from Service (VRS) for he was facing disciplinary proceedings for participating in protests against the Citizenship (Amendment) Act in 2019 and in two other complaints.
The top court held that the Centre had the power to independently accept the VRS application under the All-India Service (Death-cum-Retirement Benefits) Rules of 1958, but it was not unqualified. It asked the Centre to examine Rahman’s request for VRS afresh and take a decision in three months. “We are of the opinion that the Centre has not examined the complaints in detail before taking the decision dated October 25, 2019, of not accepting the notice for VRS,” a Bench of Justice PS Narasimha and Justice Alok Aradhe said.
