VANCHIT BAHUJAN AGHADI DHULE CANDIDATE UNLIKELY TO CONTEST MAY 20 POLLS
The possibility that Abdur Rahman, the Vanchit Bahujan Aghadi (VBA) candidate from Maharashtra's Dhule, would be able to contest the elections dimmed on Tuesday as the Bombay High Court adjourned hearing on his plea seeking voluntary retirement.
Expressing that it was difficult to accept arguments made by Maharashtra IPS officer Abdur Rahman's lawyer Arshad Shaikh, the Bombay High Court on Tuesday adjourned the hearing on his plea to May 3.Â
Rahman had filed a plea in the high court seeking that the government be directed to accept his voluntary retirement request.
Rahman has been given a ticket for the Dhule Lok Sabha seat by the Prakash Ambedkar-led party and the constituency is scheduled to go to polls in the fifth phase on May 20.
The nomination process for the fifth phase of the Lok Sabha polls has already commenced, with BJP's Dr Subhash Bhamre filing his nomination on Monday from Dhule, where May 3 is the last date for filing of nominations.
Now, since the high court has adjourned the hearing of Rahman's plea to May 3, it is unlikely that Rahman will be able to participate in the ongoing election process before the court delivers an order.
The matter dates back five years ago, when Rahman had sought to avail the Voluntary Retirement Scheme (VRS), but it was not accepted.
Then, in the wake of the Central government enacting the Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA), he tendered his resignation in 2019 as a mark of protest. However, the resignation was not accepted either.
Advocate Ravi Shetty appearing for the Union had pointed out that between 2020 and 2022 there were three chargesheets filed against Rahman in which the departmental enquiries are still going on and without those enquiries concluding, the request for retirement could not be accepted.
Notable, the first chargesheet pertains to allegations levelled against Rahman for having undertaken a second marriage and allegedly mistreating his first wife.
The second chargesheet is for unilaterally taking a decision to not attend office without seeking anyone's permission and the third was for writing a book without getting any requisite permission and also attending an anti-government protest on the issue of CAA.
When Rahman's counsel Arshad Shaikh made his submissions about the second marriage, it was submitted that his client's religion permitted him to undertake more than one marriage, to which the bench replied "Only with the permission of the government. But without permission it is not."
When Shaikh went ahead and argued about the absence of the IPS officer following his decision to not attend office, the bench said, "You are a member of a disciplined force. You are not an ordinary government servant."
With regards to the third chargesheet too, when Shaikh put forth his contentions, the bench said, "Very difficult to agree with you. Very difficult proposition."
After Abdur Rahaman's counsel finishes his arguments on May 3, the prosecution will begin arguments and it is likely that the bench will at least take some time to pass an order in the case.
2024-04-30T23:10:22Z dg43tfdfdgfd