Abdur Rehman, a 47-year-old IPS officer from the Maharashtra cadre, who applied for voluntary retirement to contest from the Dhule Lok Sabha seat under the Vanchit Bahujan Aghadi (VBA) banner, has petitioned the Bombay High Court. This action follows a December 2023 ruling by the Central Administrative Tribunal (CAT) which upheld the Union home ministry’s October 2019 decision to deny his retirement request.
Despite the tribunal’s agreement with the ministry’s decision, Mr. Rehman, who is also a graduate of IIT Kanpur, is appealing for the High Court’s intervention to expedite his voluntary retirement process, thereby clearing his path to participate in the elections.
During a hearing on Tuesday, Mr. Rehman’s attorney, Jasim Shaikh, argued that at the time of his voluntary retirement application, Mr. Rehman faced no chargesheet or Departmental Enquiry (DE), challenging the grounds for denying his request. In response, the Centre’s representative, Ravi Shetty, countered that while no chargesheet had been issued, a DE was “contemplated”, presenting a legitimate basis for refusing Rehman’s voluntary retirement application.
