Allow VRS Application Of The Doctor And Let Him Contest Election; If He Loses, VRS Will Stand Cancelled: Rajasthan HC To State

Allow VRS Application Of The Doctor And Let Him Contest Election; If He Loses, VRS Will Stand Cancelled: Rajasthan HC To State 

Sparsh Upadhyay19 Oct 2020 11:12 AM

The Rajasthan High Court on Friday (16th October) directed the State of Rajasthan and Sawai Man Singh Medical College And Associate Hospital to allow the VRS application of a Doctor and allow him to participate in the Municipal Election and treat him as retired for the said purpose.

The Bench of Justice Sanjeev Prakash Sharma further directed that in case the Petitioner/Doctor does not participate in the Municipal Election or after having participated in the election, he loses the election,"the petitioner's voluntarily retirement shall be treated as cancelled and the petitioner will have to join back services and give his medical services for the State and be allowed to be posted back on the place where he is presently posted".

Background of the Case

The Petitioner/Doctor submitted before the Court he sought voluntary retirement under Section 50(1) of the Rajasthan Civil Service (Pension) Rules, 1996 in order to contest the municipal election.

It was informed to the Court that the State had rejected the application of the petitioner on the ground that there is a paucity of Gastroenterology in the SMS Hospital and considering the scarcity of specialized doctors his VRS application was rejected.

The Petitioner/Doctor argued that in the case of State of Uttar Pradesh & Ors. Vs. Achal Singh AIR 2018 SC 3940, the action of the State in denying voluntary retirement on account of the scarcity of Medical Doctors, was approved by the Supreme Court.

However, it was argued that in the present case, the Petitioner/Doctor seeks voluntary retirement for participation in the election and aims to represent the public of the State.

It was contended that a person cannot be denied to participate in the election, however, as there is an impediment for a government servant to participate in the election on account of being a Government servant, the voluntary retirement application was moved by him.

Court's Direction

The Court observed,

"Keeping in view the right of a citizen to participate in the election, in the special circumstances, this Court allows this writ petition and directs the respondents to allow the VRS application and release the petitioner and allow him to participate in the Municipal Election and treat him as retired for the said purpose."

As mentioned earlier, the order of the Court states that in case the Petitioner/Doctor does not participate in the Municipal Election or after having participated loses the election, the petitioner's voluntarily retirement shall be treated as cancelled and the petitioner will have to join back services and give his medical services for the State and be allowed to be posted back on the place where he is presently posted.

A bond in this regard was directed to be submitted by the petitioner. With the observations and directions, as indicated above, the writ petition was disposed of.