Rajasthan High Court denies railway employee reinstatement after election loss

The Rajasthan High Court has dismissed a petition filed by a former North Western Railway official seeking to withdraw his resignation after losing an assembly election. The petitioner, Neeraj Bishnoi, who served as a Senior Auditor, resigned on October 10, 2023, to contest the Rajasthan assembly elections as a candidate for the Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) from the Ratangarh seat.

Following his electoral defeat, Bishnoi applied to withdraw his resignation and be reinstated in service on January 1, 2024. The railway department rejected the request, citing service rules that prohibit the withdrawal of an officially accepted resignation.

A division bench comprising Justice Indrajit Singh and Justice Sandeep Taneja ruled that losing an election does not constitute a valid or mandatory reason under service rules to permit the withdrawal of a resignation. The court emphasized that a government employee contesting an election cannot remain politically neutral, and allowing reinstatement would imply the individual remained in active service while engaging in political activities, which violates the 1964 rules prohibiting government employees from affiliation with political parties or organizations.