Overview
- The Rajasthan High Court dismissed former North Western Railway auditor Neeraj Bishnoi’s plea and upheld the Central Administrative Tribunal’s order, with the Division Bench rejecting his request for reinstatement on Saturday, September 12, 2026.
- Bishnoi resigned on October 10, 2023 to contest the Rajasthan Assembly election and his resignation was accepted effective November 1, 2023; he ran on a Bahujan Samaj Party ticket from Ratangarh and lost the poll.
- He applied to withdraw his resignation on January 1, 2024 but the railway denied the request and a later representation, and the CAT (Jaipur) also refused relief before the High Court upheld that refusal.
- The court interpreted Rule 26(5) of the Central Civil Services (Pension) Rules, 2021 to mean a “compelling reason” or a material change tied to the original reason is needed to allow withdrawal, and it found electoral defeat and later pension regret do not qualify.
- The ruling reinforces CCS (Conduct) Rules, 1964 limits on active party politics by serving officials and signals that employees who quit to fight elections should expect loss of service continuity and pension rights, which could prompt stricter administrative enforcement and fewer successful reinstatement claims.