IPS Officer Moves Gujarat HC After Being Denied Retirement

Rai had probed the Sohrabuddin Sheikh murder case and arrested three IPS officers as the key accused in the case.

Kausar Bi and Sohrabuddin Shaikh.

(Photo Courtesy: Twitter) 

Rajnish Rai, a Gujarat cadre 1992-batch IPS officer who is known for probing the Sohrabuddin Sheikh murder case, has moved Gujarat High Court over the issue of his voluntary retirement, reported Deccan Herald.

Rai had arrested three IPS officers – DG Vanzara and Rajkumar Pandian of the Gujarat cadre and Dinesh MN of the Rajasthan cadre – as the key accused in the case. His retirement plea was turned down by the union government in 2018 on grounds that he was not clear from the vigilance angle as there is a chargesheet against him.

According to the Deccan Herald report, Rai moved the HC seeking relief that the state and the union governments should be directed to “not interfere”. He has also sought relief from any coercive action against him. Rai has also sought retirement benefits.

Rai sought retirement under the provision of All India Services (Death-Cum-Retirement Benefit) Rules, 1958. He was placed at the Counter Insurgency and Anti-Terrorism (CIAT) School of the Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF) at Chittoor in Andhra Pradesh.

After he quit the job, the union government rejected his application and asked him to join duty.

(With inputs from Deccan Herald)