Gujarat HC dismisses ex-IPS Rajnish Rai’s petition on deciding CAT jurisdiction

Rai, in his plea, had submitted that CAT (Procedure) Rules for persons who have ceased to be in service allow the option to file an application before the Bench within whose jurisdiction the person resides at the time of filing of the application. In Rai’s case, the place of residence is Ahmedabad.

However, the IPS officer’s application for Voluntary Retirement from Service (VRS) in 2018 was rejected by the Centre, thus making it contentious whether Rai would be deemed to have ceased from service. Hence, the Centre argued that Rai cannot make use of the CAT (Procedure) Rules when the proceedings pertaining to his retirement from service remains pending before CAT, Ahmedabad and the HC.

The court stated that when Rai himself has challenged the rejection of his application for VRS “and the issue is still pending for consideration before this Court, it is not open for the petitioner to presume that his application for voluntary retirement has been accepted and he has retired from the service”.

Rai also submitted before the bench that the latest show-cause notice also infringes upon his legal rights and right to terminal benefits of his service. The bench, however, said it “cannot be presumed that the legal right of the petitioner (Rai) has been infringed… because of the issuance of the said show-cause notice”. “It is always open for the petitioner to submit a reply to the said show-cause notice and thereafter, it is also open for the respondents to take appropriate steps after considering the reply submitted by the petitioner,” it added.

A 1992-batch IPS officer who was originally from the Odisha-cadre and later, changed to the Gujarat-cadre, Rai was posted as Inspector General with CRPF in the North Eastern Sector at Shillong from May 2015. In March 2017, two were killed in an encounter in Assam and after contrary reports, Rai had directed the DIG, CRPF, Bongaigaon Range, to conduct an inquiry. The DIG report had confirmed the encounter to be fake, following which Rai had recommended DG, CRPF to conduct a detailed inquiry or investigation by an independent agency.

In June 2017, Rai, currently an assistant professor at IIM-A, was transferred from the post and posted as IG, CIAT School, Chittoor, Andhra Pradesh. A preliminary inquiry was initiated against Rai by the Central government and in December 2021, the Centre served a show-cause notice to Rai. The Centre refused Rai’s request to be provided with additional documents so that he can respond to the notice. The officer then moved the Delhi High Court, which held in January that he can approach the CAT with his grievance, without explicitly mentioning the jurisdictional bench of the CAT.

In February, Rai moved CAT Ahmedabad bench challenging the preliminary inquiry instituted against him as well as the December 2021 show-cause notice. However, the bench did not entertain the same on the ground of lack of jurisdiction. A review petition filed before the CAT, Ahmedabad Bench too, was dismissed as not maintainable. Meanwhile, the Centre also slapped Rai with a charge sheet for “misconduct” in relation to a 2017 incident, alleging that Rai carried out a “discreet inquiry” on the alleged fake encounters.