The Supreme Court has observed that although voluntary retirement by officers belonging to the All India Services (AIS) requires mandatory approval of the Central Government, such authority does not confer unfettered discretion to reject a request for Voluntary Retirement Scheme (VRS) benefits without properly considering the recommendation and assessment made by the concerned State Government.
The Bench of Justice Pamidighantam Sri Narasimha and Justice Alok Aradhe passed the order while allowing an appeal filed by a Maharashtra cadre Indian Police Service (IPS) officer whose request for voluntary retirement had been rejected by the Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA). The Court set aside the concurrent decisions of the Bombay High Court and the Central Administrative Tribunal (CAT), both of which had upheld the Centre’s refusal to grant VRS.
The Supreme Court clarified that under the All India Services (Death-cum-Retirement Benefits) Rules, acceptance of a notice seeking voluntary retirement was mandatory and subject to approval by the Union Government. However, the Court held that the exercise of such statutory discretion must be based on objective material, proper application of mind and due consideration of the State Government’s recommendation, particularly because the State Government was the authority directly supervising the officer concerned.
The Bench observed that while the Central Government was not legally bound by the recommendation of the State Government, such recommendation carried significant evidentiary and persuasive value, especially in matters relating to service conduct, vigilance status and disciplinary proceedings. The Court held that the Union of India could not form an adverse opinion unsupported by material available on record.
The dispute arose after the appellant’s third application seeking voluntary retirement dated August 1, 2019, was rejected by the MHA on October 25, 2019. The rejection order stated that disciplinary proceedings were either pending or contemplated against the officer and that he was therefore not clear from the vigilance angle.
The Supreme Court noted that prior to the rejection, the Maharashtra Government had recommended acceptance of the VRS request through its communication dated October 16, 2019. The State Government had specifically recorded that no charge-sheet had been issued against the officer in any proceeding and that disciplinary action was merely at a preliminary or contemplated stage. It had further opined that no major penalty was likely to be imposed upon the officer.
Challenging the rejection order, the officer approached the Central Administrative Tribunal, which dismissed the plea. The Bombay High Court subsequently affirmed the Tribunal’s decision, leading to the present appeal before the apex court.
Allowing the appeal, the Supreme Court held that the rejection order suffered from non-application of mind and absence of reasoned consideration. The Court observed that the Central Government failed to distinguish between various complaints pending against the officer and mechanically relied upon generic expressions such as disciplinary proceedings being “pending or contemplated” without analysing whether such proceedings had actually crystallised in law.
The Bench further held that the Central Government failed to engage with the State Government’s assessment and did not provide adequate reasons for departing from the recommendation supporting voluntary retirement. The Court observed that administrative decisions affecting civil consequences must satisfy standards of fairness, reasonableness and rationality under administrative law principles.
The Supreme Court also took note of the prolonged delay in initiation and completion of disciplinary proceedings against the officer after rejection of the VRS application. Referring to settled service jurisprudence, the Court observed that unexplained delay in disciplinary proceedings may itself cause prejudice to an employee and adversely affect procedural fairness.
In view of these findings, the Court allowed the appeal and directed the Central Government to reconsider the officer’s request for voluntary retirement afresh in accordance with law after properly evaluating the relevant material, including the recommendation made by the State Government.
The post Supreme Court directs Centre to consider state government recommendation on IPS officer VRS request appeared first on India Legal.