In a way, it is not surprising. What else could have been expected from Vinod Rai, the comptroller and auditor general of India (CAG)? He is vacating his official residence — 2, Kushak Road in Delhi’s power zone — well ahead of his retirement on May 23.

On May 19, he will shift to his own home in Vasant Vihar, south Delhi, even though his successor might not have been named by then.

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Rules allow Rai to stay on for three months, and most occupants of bungalows in Delhi’s Lutyens’ zone — MPs, bureaucrats and other VIPs — stay on for far longer than that. But not Rai. In fact, he began moving his stuff last month itself.

This is Rai’s way of saying that he does not care much for perks and privileges of officialdom and is not looking for a plum post-retirement posting, which often is the single factor that has prevented top functionaries from discharging their duties properly and effectively.

In comparison, four immediate past CBI chiefs have received such gifts from the ruling regime. Several top bureaucrats have refused to give up the red beacon on their cars and the power circuit long after retirement. As Arun Shourie put it in a public lecture in 2010, a dog is not likely to bark as long as there is a bone dangling before him.

Of course, Rai has been the chief tormentor of UPA-II and no bone is likely to be dangled before him now either. In this, Rai will join the ranks of honourable exceptions like justice MN Venkatachaliah, who, after retirement in 1994, refused to take up any official assignment — except to head a panel to review the constitution.