The Madras High Court on Monday reserved orders on a writ petition filed by Tamil Nadu government challenging the verdict of the Central Administrative Tribunal (CAT) that ruled in favor of senior IAS officer Ashok Vardhan Shetty who sought to go on voluntary retirement.
Refusing to give any further adjournments (sought by the state government), a bench comprising justices Elipe Dharma Rao and M Venugopal reserved orders on the petition from the state government by its chief secretary Debendranath Sarangi.
Challenging the government, Mr Shetty, in his petition, submitted that the State (or more accurately the second petitioner, chief secretary of TN, Debendranath Sarangi) has “indulged in blatantly malafide action by foisting a bogus preliminary enquiry” on him at the fag end of the notice period.
Mr Shetty’s VR notice was rejected by the CS through GO dated December 7, 2011 (Rt No 4059) by applying rule 16 (2-A) of All India Service rules 1958. The GO follows a preliminary enquiry ordered by the state government against Mr Shetty on December 2, 2012.