Senior railway official who opted for VRS moves CAT for reinstatement

Divisional Railway Manager of Agra, Anand Swarup, too dismissed Kapils allegations and said, There are serious charges against Dinesh Kapil and thats why we decided to accept his request for VRS. When asked about the charges, Swarup refused to reveal.

After working with Indian Railways for 35 years, a 56-year-old divisional train controller recently opted for early retirement following a tiff with his senior. But now he wants his job back and has moved the Central Administrative Tribunal (CAT) for his reinstatement.

Dinesh Kapil wrote back to his department to withdraw his application for voluntary retirement but it was declined. So, he has filed a case in the CAT, saying that his successor should be given ''more time to mature before being elevated to such a crucial position''. His successor Gyan Singh, who replaced him as head of the control division, had allegedly diverted a military special freight train, which was bound to Delhi, to Jaipur in March 2021. It was a rare goof-up which had caused embarrassment to the Railways. The current controversy cropped up on November 3, 2022 when Kapil had an alleged argument with his senior Kuldeep Meena, who is Senior Divisional Operation Manager (DOM). Kapil alleged that Meena provoked him to apply for VRS (voluntary retirement scheme) which he tendered immediately. Four days later on November 7, he came to know that he was replaced by chief controller Singh who was entrusted with the responsibility to head the control division. “The very next day on November 8, I expressed my desire in writing to withdraw my VRS because Singh's elevation came as a shock to me. I personally believe that he should be given more time to mature in the controller's job before being elevated to such a crucial position,” Kapil said. When contacted, Singh refused to talk as he is not authorized to speak to the media. The speaking order passed by the Railways against him said that the military special freight train was supposed to go to Tughlakabad (Delhi) from Dhaulpur (Rajasthan) but out of confusion he diverted it towards Alwar from where it went to Jaipur. Singh’s colleagues, however, defended him by saying that it was not his failure alone but a team of people. Unfortunately, he was a part of that team, they said. Divisional Railway Manager of Agra, Anand Swarup, too dismissed Kapil’s allegations and said, “There are serious charges against Dinesh Kapil and that’s why we decided to accept his request for VRS.” When asked about the charges, Swarup refused to reveal. Contrary to Kapil’s request to consider withdrawal of his application for VRS, the division accepted it immediately and intimated him about it in writing on November 11. Kapil moved a petition in CAT on November 28. “The tribunal, while hearing the case on November 29, issued a notice to the Railways and asked it to maintain a status quo in this matter. It didn’t file any response on the next date of hearing on December 19. The tribunal has now fixed February 14 for the next hearing. The Railways as of now has not filed any reply,” Nilansh Gaur, Kapil’s advocate, said. Meena, the officer with whom Kapil alleged to have a heated argument, said that the issue is being blown out of proportion unnecessarily. “We asked for certain information from him and he was supposed to comply with our orders respectfully. On the contrary, he said 'main to VRS apni jeb mein rakh kar ghoomta hoon (I carry a VRS application in my pocket)'. We asked him to tender it then. Now, he is regretting,” Meena said, adding that Kapil's own arrogance and high-handedness has put him in trouble.