IPS officer Rajnish Rai moves CAT as Centre rejects his retirement plea

Gujarat cadre IPS officer Rajnish Rai has approached the Central Administrative Tribunal (CAT) in Ahmedabad against the rejection of his request for voluntary retirement by the central government.

Rai, who had arrested D G Vanzara and two other IPS officers in the Sohrabuddin Sheikh alleged fake encounter case in 2007, earlier sought voluntary retirement but it was rejected on the ground that "inquiries were pending or contemplated against him," as per his application before the CAT.

He was last transferred as Inspector General of the CRPF's Counter Insurgency and Anti-Terrorism (CIAT) School at Chittoor in Andhra Pradesh.

He had earlier this year sought voluntary retirement with effect from November 30 after completing 50 years of age under provisions of the All India Services (Death-Cum- Retirement Benefit) Rules, 1958, but the Centre rejected his plea in October.

In April 2017, while working with the Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF) at Shillong in Meghalaya, he had submitted a report on "a suspected fake encounter during a joint counter-insurgency operation of security forces, resulting in the killing of two persons of the NDFB(S)," he said in his application.

After his retirement was "not agreed to by the competent authority since he was not clear from the vigilance angle," Rai approached the CAT's Ahmedabad bench on December 5.

Rai, a 1992-batch IPS officer from Gujarat, in his application sought to "set aside the letter rejecting his retirement and allow his retirement."