Rhea Chakraborty’s lawyer, Satish Maneshinde, has termed former Bihar DGP Gupteshwar Pandey’s sudden move to opt for voluntary retirement scheme (VRS) on Tuesday as ‘Justice for Gupteshwar Pandey’. In a message to The Quint, Maneshinde says, “The request for VRS by DGP Bihar Gupteshwar Pandey and granting VRS by Bihar government and union government in 24-hours is as fast as the Bihar government transfer of FIR against Rhea Chakraborty to CBI and acceptance of it by the union government. This is not justice for SSR but justice for Gupteshwar Pandey... Satyamev Jayate.”
It was widely speculated that Pandey had opted for VRS to contest in the upcoming Bihar assembly polls that are likely to be held in October-November. On Wednesday, Pandey addressed the media and said that he is yet to join any political party and has also not taken any decision about standing for elections. “I have not joined any political party as of now and I have not taken any decision on it yet. As far as social work is concerned, I can do it without entering politics too,” was Pandey’s carefully worded statement.
Speaking about the Sushant Singh Rajput death case, the former Bihar police chief said that his VRS should not be linked to Sushant's case. Pandey added that he only wanted to help Sushant's old and ailing father and Supreme Court also supported Bihar Police's decision to file an FIR in Sushant's case.
According to a report in Hindustan Times, this is the second time Pandey has taken VRS from service. In 2009, he opted for premature retirement as he reportedly wished to contest in the Lok Sabha polls from Buxar on a Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) ticket. Pandey however was not given a ticket.
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