Dr. Vineet Kothari, J. - (1.) THE petitioner working as Junior Surgeon in the respondent Medical and Health Department, sought voluntary retirement from service vide his application dated 07.03.2014, which however came to be rejected by the respondent, Deputy Secretary of the Medical and Health Department, Jaipur vide the impugned order dated 07.05.2014 (Annex. 18) and being aggrieved by the same, the petitioner has preferred this writ petition assailing that order.
(2.) MR . Trilok Joshi, learned counsel for the petitioner relied upon the provisions of Rule 50 of the Rajasthan Civil Service (Pension) Rules, 1996, (for brevity, hereinafter referred to as 'Pension Rules of 1996') and the Government of Rajasthan Decisions taken thereunder and certain case -laws rendered by this Court, and urged that since no enquiry is pending against the petitioner, the application for voluntary retirement from service after completion of the qualifying service of petitioner for 20 years deserves to be accepted and the same has wrongly been rejected by the respondents and, therefore, the writ petition deserves to be allowed. The Rule 50 of the Pension Rules of 1996 and the Government of Rajasthan decisions taken thereunder, and cited before this Court, are quoted herein below for ready reference: - 50. Retirement on completion of 15 years' qualifying service: (1) At any time after a Government servant has completed fifteen years qualifying service, he may, by giving notice of not less than three months in writing to the appointing authority, retire from service. (2) The notice of voluntary retirement given under sub -rule (1) shall requires acceptance by the appointing authority: Provided that where the appointing authority does not refuse to grant the permission for retirement before the expiry of the period specified in the said notice, the retirement shall automatically become effective from the date of expiry of the said period. Government of Rajasthan's Decision Guidelines for acceptance of notice -A notice of voluntary retirement given after completion of fifteen years qualifying service will require acceptance by the appointing authority. Such acceptance may be generally given in all cases except that the Appointing Authority shall withhold permission to retire a Government servant: (i) who is under suspension; (ii) in whose case the disciplinary proceedings are pending or contemplated for the imposition of a major penalty and the disciplinary authority having regard to the circumstances of the case, is of the view that such disciplinary proceedings might result in imposition of the penalty of removal or dismissal from service; (iii) in whose case prosecution is contemplated or may have been launched in a court of law. In such cases, if it is proposed to accept the notice of voluntary retirement approval of the Government should be obtained. Even where the notice of voluntary retirement given by the Government servant requires acceptance by the appointing authority, the Government servant giving notice may presume acceptance and the retirement shall be effective in terms of the notice unless the competent authority issues an order to the contrary before the expiry of the period of notice. (3) (a) A Government servant referred to in sub -rule (1) may make a request in writing to the appointing authority to accept notice of voluntary retirement of less than three months giving reasons therefor; (b) On receipt of a request under clause (a), the appointing authority subject to the provisions of sub -rule (2), may consider such request for the curtailment of the period of notice of three months on merits and if it is satisfied that the curtailment of the period of notice will not cause any administrative inconvenience, the appointing authority may relax the requirement of notice of three months. Government of Rajasthan's Decision In case a Government servant seeks voluntary retirement under Rule 50(1) of Rajasthan Civil Services (Pension) Rules, 1996, with a view to contest any election to Parliament/State Assembly/Municipalities/Panchayati Raj Institutions, he may be retired by the competent authority under rule 50 of RCS (Pension) Rule, 1996 immediately without prejudice to the right of Government going into the genuineness of the reasons and verification of the qualifying service rendered, and the period of notice prescribed under rule 50(1) of Rajasthan Civil Services (Pension) Rules, 1996 shall in such cases be deemed to have been waived as a matter of course. (4) A Government servant, who has elected to retire under this rule and has given the necessary notice to that effect to the appointing authority, can make a request to withdraw the notice during its currency and he may continue in service. In such cases, it will be obligatory on the appointing authority to accept the request of withdrawing the notice of voluntary retirement of the Government servant. In cases, where the appointing authority has already issued the order for acceptance of voluntary retirement from the intended date of the Government servant such an order shall be cancelled by the appointing authority forthwith i.e. before the intended date of voluntary retirement; (5) The pension and retirement gratuity of the Government servant retiring under this rule shall be based on the emoluments as defined under rule 45 of Rajasthan Civil Services (Pension) Rules, 1996, which the Government servant was receiving immediately before the date of retirement, and the increase not exceeding five years in his qualifying service under rule 51 shall not entitle him to any notional fixation of pay for purposes of calculating pension and gratuity. (6) This rule shall not apply to a Government servant who retires from Government service for being absorbed permanently in an autonomous body or a public sector undertaking to which he is on deputation at the time of seeking voluntary retirement. Explanation: For the purpose of this rule, the expression "appointing authority" shall mean the authority which is competent to make appointments to the service or post from which the Government servant seeks voluntary retirement. (7) If a Government servant seeks retirement under this rule while he is on leave not due, without returning to duty, the retirement, shall take effect from the date of commencement of the leave not due and the leave salary paid in respect of such leave shall be recovered from him. (8) A Government servant who gives notice of voluntary retirement under sub -rule (1) of rule 50 shall satisfy himself by means of a reference to the appointing authority who is competent to retire him to the effect that he has, in fact, completed 15 years qualifying service for pension.
(3.) THE impugned order (Annex. 18), which has been passed by the competent authority before the expiry of notice period of three months on 07.05.2014 is also quoted herein below for ready reference: - ;