1. The appointing authority or any authority to which it is subordinate or the disciplinary authority empowered in that behalf by the President, by general or special order, may place a Government servant under suspension:-

   1. Where a disciplinary proceedings against him is contemplated or pending; or

   (aa)   where, in the opinion of the authority aforesaid, he has engaged himself in activities prejudicial to the interest of the security of the State; or

   2. where a case against him in respect of any criminal offence is under investigation, inquiry or trial:

Provided that, except in case of an order of suspension made by the Controller and Auditor-General in regard to a member of the Indian Audit and Accounts Service and in regard to an Assistant Accountant General or equivalent (other than a regular member of the Indian Audit and Accounts Service), where the order of suspension is made by an authority lower than the appointing authority, such authority shall forthwith report to the appointing authority the circumstances in which the order was made.

2. A Government servant shall be deemed to have been placed under suspension by an order of appointing authority-

   1. with effect from the date of his detention, if he is detained in custody, whether on a criminal charge or otherwise, for a period exceeding forty-eight hours;

   2. with effect from the date of his conviction, if, in the event of a conviction for an offence, he is sentenced to a term of imprisonment exceeding forty-eight hours and is not forthwith dismissed or removed or compulsorily retired consequent to such conviction.

Explanation- The period of forty-eight hours referred in sub-clause (b) of this sub-rule shall be computed from the commencement of the imprisonment after the conviction and for this purpose, intermittent periods of imprisonment, if any, shall be taken into account.

3. Where a penalty of dismissal, removal or compulsory retirement from service imposed upon aGovernment Servant under suspension is set aside in appeal or on review under these rules and the case is remitted for further inquiry or action or with any other directions, the order of his suspension shall be deemed to have continued in force on and from the date of the original order of dismissal, removal or compulsory retirement and shall remain in force until further orders.

4. ;(4) Where a penalty of dismissal, removal or compulsory retirement from service imposed upon a Government servant is set aside or declared or rendered void in consequence of or by a decision of a Court of law and the disciplinary authority, on a consideration of the circumstances of the case, decides to hold a further inquiry against him on the allegations on which penalty of dismissal, removal or compulsory retirement was originally imposed, the Government servant shall be deemed to have been placed under suspension by the Appointing Authority from the date of the original order of dismissal, removal or compulsory retirement and shall continue to remain under suspension until further orders:

Provided that no such further inquiry shall be ordered unless it is intended to meet a situation where the Court has passed an order purely on technical grounds without going into the merits of the case.

5.  :

   1. (a) An order of suspension made or deemed to have been made under this rule shall continue to remain in force until it is modified or revoked by the authority competent to do so.

   2. (b) Where a Government servant is suspended or is deemed to have been suspended (whether in connection with any disciplinary proceedings or otherwise), and any other disciplinary proceedings is commenced against him during the continuance of that suspension, the authority competent to place him under suspension may, for reasons to be recorded by him in writing, direct that the Government servant shall continue to be under suspension until the termination of all any of such proceedings.

   3. (c) An order of suspension made or deemed to have been made under this rule may at any time be modified or revoked by the authority which made or is deemed to have made the order or by any authority to which that authority is subordinate.

The following penalties may, for good and sufficient reason and as hereinafter provided, be imposed on a Government servant, namely-

Minor Penalties-

1. censure;

2. withholding of his promotion;

3. recovery from his pay of the whole or part of any pecuniary loss caused by him to the Government by negligence or breach of orders;

4. withholding of increments of pay;

Major Penalties

5. reduction to a lower stage in the time-scale of pay for a specified period, with further directions as to whether or not the Government servant will earn increments of pay during the period of such reduction and whether on the expiry of such period, the reduction will or will not have the effect of postponing the future increments of his pay;

6. reduction to lower time-scale of pay, grade, post or Service which shall ordinarily be a bar to the promotion of the Government servant to the time-scale of pay, grade, post, or Service from which he was reduced, with or without further directions regarding conditions of restoration to the grade or post or Service from which the Government servant was reduced and his seniority and pay on such restoration to that grade, post or Serivice;

7. Compulsory retirement;

8. removal from service which shall not be a disqualification for future employment under the Government;

9. dismissal from service which shall ordinarily be a disqualification for future employment under the Government

Explanation-The following shall not amount to a penalty within the meaning of this rule, namely:-

1. withholding of increments of a Government servant for his failure to pass any departmental examination in accordance with the rules or orders governing the Service to which he belongs or post which he holds or the terms of his appointment;

2. stoppage of a Government servant at the efficiency bar in the time-scale of pay on the ground of his unfitness to cross the bar;

3. non-promotion of a Government servant, whether in a substantive or officiating capacity, after consideration of his case, to a service, grade or post for promotion to which he is eligible;

4. reversion of a Government servant officiating in a higher Service, grade or post to a lower Service, grade or post, on the ground that he is considered to be unsuitable for such higher service, grade or post or any administrative ground unconnected with his conduct;

5. reversion of a Government servant, appointed on probation to any other Service, grade or post, to his permanent Service, grade or post during or at the end of the period of probation in accordance with the terms of his appointment or the rules and orders governing such probation;

6. replacement of the Services of the Government servant, whose services had been borrowed from a State Government or any authority under the control of a State Government, at the disposal of the State Government or the authority from which the services of such Government servant had been borrowed;

7. compulsory retirement of a Government servant in accordance with the provisions relating to his superannuation or retirement;

8. termination of the services-

   1. of a Government servant appointed on probation, during or at the end of the period of his probation, in accordance with the terms of his appointment or the rules and orders governing such probation, or

   2. of a temporary Government servant in accordance with the provisions of sub-rule (1) of Rule 5 of the Central Civil Sevices (Temporary Service) Rules, 1965, or

   3. of a Government servant, employed under an agreement, in accordance with the terms of such agreement.

1. The President may impose any of the penalties specified in Rule 11 on any Government servant.

2. Without prejudice to the provisions of sub-rule (1), but subject to sub-rule (4), any of the penalties specified in Rule 11 may be imposed on-

   1. a member of the Central Civil Service other than the General Central Service by the appointing authority or the authority specified in the schedule in this behalf or by any other authority empowered in this behalf by a general or special order of the President;

   2. a person appointed to a Central Civil Post included in the General Central Service, by the authority specified in this behalf by a general or special order of the President or, where no such order has been made, by the appointing authority, or the authority specified in the schedule in this behalf.

3. Subject to the provisions of sub-rule (4), the power to impose any of the penalties specified in Rule 11 may also be exercised, in the case of a member of Civil Service, Class III (other than Central Secretariat Clerical Service, Class IV-

   1. if he is serving in the Ministry or Department of the Government of India, by the Secretary to the Government of India, in that Ministry or Department, or

   2. if he is serving in any other office, by the head of that office, except where the head of the office is lower in rank than the authority competent to impose the penalty under sub-rule (2).

4. Notwithstanding anything contained in this rule-

   1. except where the penalty specified in clause (v) or clause (vi) of Rule 11 is imposed by the Comptroller and Auditor-General on a member of the Indian Audit and Accounts Service, no penalty specified in clause (v) to (ix) of that rule shall be imposed by any authority subordinate to the appointing authority;

   2. where a Government servant who is a member of a Service other than the General Central Service, who has been substantively appointed to any civil post in the General Civil Service, is temporarily appointed to any other Service or post, the authority competent to impose on such Government servant any of the penalties specified in clauses (v) to (ix) of Rule 11 shall not impose any such penalties unless it has consulted such authority, not being an authority subordinate to it, as would have been competent under sub-rule (2) to impose on the Government servant any of the said penalties had he not been appointed to such other Service or post.

   3. in respect of a probationer undergoing training in Lal Bahadur Shastri National Academy of Administration, the Director of the said Academy shall be the authority competent to impose on such probationer any of the penalties specified in clause (i) to (ii) of Rule 11 after observing the procedure laid down in Rule 16.

Explanation 1- For the purpose of clause (c), 'probationer' means a person appointed to a Central Civil Service on prtobation.

Explanation 2- Where a Government servant belongs to a Service or holding a Central Civil Post of any class, is promoted, whether on probation or temporarily to the Service or Central Civil post of the next higher class, he shall be deemed for the purposes of this rule to belong to the service of, or hold the Central Civil post of such higher class.

1. The President or any other authority empowered by him by general or special order may:

   1. institute disciplinary proceedings against any Government servant;

   2. direct a disciplinary authority to institute disciplinary proceedings against any Government servant on whom that disciplinary authority is competent to impose under these rules any of the penalties specified in rule 11.

2. A disciplinary authority competent under these rules to impose any of the penalties specified in clauses (v) to (ix) of Rule 11 may institute disciplinary proceedings against any Government servant for the imposition of the penalties specified in clauses(v) to (ix) of Rule 11 notwithstanding that such disciplinary authority is not competent under these rules to impose any of the latter penalties.