BANGALORE: Has Kempaiah used VRS to escape the charges framed against him by Lokayukta? Whatever be the intention, Kempaiah will get a reprieve from the charges, legal experts say. If there is any enquiry pending against any government employee and he/she has applied for VRS, he/she should not be relieved from service. But, once a chargesheet is filed against him/her in court, then he/she can be relieved from service, on applying for VRS.
In Kempaiah’s case, Lokayukta had filed a chargesheet against him in a corruption case. So there is no pending enquiry against him. He has also got a stay order to the enquiry from the High Court.
The government must have used this premise to accept his VRS application, an advocate said.
But Lokayukta Justice N Santosh Hegde differs with this opinion. “Once a case is pending against an officer, according to my legal knowledge, the government should not accept his VRS application.
If such a person is granted VRS, he will enjoy retirement benefits and other facilities. We could have got the stay order of the High Court vacated,” he said.
In the false caste certificate case against Kempaiah, an enquiry by the directorate of civil rights enforcement was completed and the report was submitted to the government.
Even if the Lokayukta continues the case, he will not lose his hi-profile image, an IPS officer said.