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[Reproduced from Publication of CVC]
CHAPTER X - DISCIPLINARY PROCEEDINGS INITIAL ACTION - Part: 1 (Page: 3 of 10)
Disciplinary Rules (Paragraph 1)
The disciplinary penal provisions and procedures for departmental disciplinary proceedings have been laid down in different sets of rules applicable to different categories of Government servants. The rules having the widest applicability are the Central Civil Services (Classification, Control & Appeal)Rules, 1965, hereafter referred to as Classification, Control & Appeal Rules, which apply to all civil Government servants including the civilian Government servants in the Defence services, except
Railway servants, as defined in Rule 102 of the Indian Railway Establishment Code (Vol.I)
Members of the All India Services;
Persons in casual employment;
Persons subject to discharge from service on less than one month's notice;
Persons for whom special provisions is made, in respect of matter covered by these rules by or under any law for the time being in force or by or under any agreement entered into by or with the previous approval of the President in regard to maters covered by such special provisions; and
Officers holding posts borne on the cadres of Branch 'A' and Branch 'B' of I.F.S. including non-career Heads of Missions or Posts. The President may, however, by order exclude any class of Government servants from the operation of all or any of the provisions of these Rules.
A Government servant governed by the Classification Control and Appeal Rules who is transferred temporarily to the Railways will continue to be governed by the Classification, Control & appeal Rules.
Among the excepted categories, the Railway servants are governed by the Railways (Discipline & Appeal) Rules, the members of All India Services by the All India Services (Discipline & Appeal) Rules, 1969, and officers holding posts borne on the cadres of Branch 'A' 'and Branch 'B' of the Indian Foreign Service by the Indian Foreign Service (Conduct & Discipline) Rules, 1961.
The Defence services personnel (other than Civilian Government servants in the Defence Services) who are paid out of the Defence Services Estimates and are subject to the Army Act, 1950, the Navy Act, 1957 and the Air Force Act, 1950 are governed by the disciplinary provisions contained in the respective Acts and the Rules made thereunder.
the employees of public sector undertakings, statutory corporations, etc, are governed by the discipline and appeal rules framed by the respective public undertaking or corporation in exercise of the powers conferred upon it by the statue or by the Articles of Memorandum constituting it. In certain cases, they are laid down in the contract of service. The Central Vigilance Commission on the basis of the report of a Working Group, including representatives of important Public Undertakings, had also approved the draft of a set of Model Conduct, Discipline and Appeal Rules for Public Sector Undertakings. These Model Rules were circulated by the Bureau of Public Enterprises to all the Public Undertakings for their adoption. Many of the Public Undertakings have adopted these rules and others are in the process of their adoption.
The various sets of discipline rules pertaining to Government servant have been framed in conformity with the provisions of Article 311 of the Constitution. The basic provisions in them are therefore similar in character. As the bulk of Government servants in civil employ are governed by the C.C.A. Rules, the procedures discussed in the Manual are those prescribed in those rules. While a reference to variations of an important nature in other rules has been made in appropriate places, the Chief Vigilance Officer/Vigilance Officer should take care to ensure that the provisions of the respective rules are observed where they vary from those prescribed in the CCA Rules. This is particularly necessary in the case of Public Sector, Enterprises, and Statutory Corporations, as their employees are governed by the rules framed by the respective organisations.
Penalties (Paragraph 2)
2.1. Under Rule 11 of the CCA Rules, the competent authority may, for good and sufficient reasons, impose on a Government servant any of the following penalties:-
Minor penalties
Censure;
Withholding of promotion
(Explanation : Non-promotion of a Government servant, whether in a substantive or officiating capacity, after consideration of his case for promotion to a service, grade or post which he is eligible will not amount to a penalty).
Recovery from his pay of the whole or part of any pecuniary loss caused by the Government servant to the Government by negligence or breach of orders;
A) Reduction to a lower stage in the time-scale of pay for a period not exceeding 3 years, without cumulative effect and not adversely affecting his pension;
Withholding of increments of pay;
(Explanation : The following will not amount to a penalty:-
Withholding of increments of pay 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;
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.
Major penalties
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;
Reduction to a 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 of post or service from which the Government servant was reduced and his seniority and pay on such restoration to that grade, post or Service;
(Explanation : The following shall not amount to a penalty:-
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 of port or on any administrative ground unconnected with his conduct;
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 promotion in accordance with the terms of his appointment of the rules and order governing such probation;
Replacement of the services of a Government servant, whose services had been borrowed from a State Government or an 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.
Compulsory retirement
(Explanation : Compulsory retirement of a Government servant in accordance with the provisions relating to his superannuation or retirement does not amount to penalty).
Removal from service of the Government;
(Explanation : Termination of service in the under mentioned circumstances will not amount to a penalty of removal from service :-
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
of a temporary Government servant in accordance with the provisions of sub-rule (1) of Rule 5 of the Central Civil Services (Temporary Service) Rules, 1965; or
of a Government servant, employed under an agreement, in accordance with the terms of such agreement).
Dismissal from service which shall ordinarily be a disqualification for future employment under the Government
Provided that, in every case in which the charge of acceptance from any person of any gratification, other than legal remuneration, as a motive or reward for doing or forbearing to do any official act is established, the penalty mentioned in clause (8) or clause (9) shall be imposed;
Provided further that in any exceptional case and for special reasons recorded in writing any other penalty may be imposed.
Warning (Paragraph 3)
An order of censure is a formal act intended to convey that the person concerned has been held guilty of some blame-worthy act or omission for which it has been found necessary to award him a formal punishment. There may be occasions, however, when a superior officer may find it necessary to criticise adversely the work of an officer working under him (e.g. point out negligence, carelessness, lack of thoroughness, delay etc.) or he may call for an explanation for some act or omission and taking all factors into consideration, it may be felt that, while the matter is not serious enough to justify the imposition of the formal punishment of censure, it calls for some formal action, such as, the communication of a written or oral warning, admonition reprimand or caution. Administration of a warning in such circumstances does not amount to a formal punishment. It is an administrative device in the formal punishment. It is an administrative device in the hands of the superior authority for conveying its criticism and disapproval of the work or conduct of the person warned and for making it known to him that he has done something blame-worthy, with a view to enabling him to make an effort to remedy the defect and generally
The punishment of censure can be imposed only for good and sufficient reasons after following the prescribed procedure and the imposition of the punishment is conveyed by a formal written order. A record of the punishment is kept on the officer's confidential roll and will have its bearing on the assessment of his merit or suitability for promotion to higher rank. A warning may, however, be administered verbally or in writing. If a warning/displeasure/ reprimand is issued in writing, a copy of it should be placed in the personal file of the officer concerned. At the end of the year (or period of report), the reporting authority, while writing the confidential report of the officer, may decide not to make a reference in the confidential report to the warning/displeasure/reprimand, if, in the opinion of that authority, the performance of the officer reported on after the issue of the warning or displeasure or reprimand, as the case may be, has improved and has been found satisfactory. If, however, the reporting authority comes to the conclusion that despite the warning/displeasure/ reprimand, the officer has not improved, it may make appropriate mention of such warning/displeasure/reprimand, as the case be, in the relevant column in Part-III of the form of confidential Report relating to assessment by the Reporting Officer, and, in that case, a copy of the warning/ displeasure/reprimand referred to in the confidential report should be placed in the CR dossier as an annexure to the confidential report for the revenant period. The adverse remarks should also be conveyed to the officer and his representation, if any, against the same disposed off in accordance with the procedure laid down in the instructions issued in this regard.
Any superior authority can administer a warning to an official working under it. It is, however, desirable that the authority administering the warning should not normally be lower than the authority which initiates the confidential report on the official to be warned.
Where a departmental proceeding has been completed and it is considered that the officer concerned deserves to be penalised, he should be awarded any of the statutory penalties mentioned in rules 11 of the CA Rules. In such a situation a record-able warning should not be issued as it would for all practical purposes amount to a Censure which is a formal punishment to be imposed by a competent disciplinary authority after following the procedure prescribed in the relevant disciplinary rules. The Delhi High Court has, in the case of Nadhan Singh Vs. the Union of India, expressed the view that warning kept in the confidential Report Dossier has all the attributes of Censure. In the circumstances, where it is considered after the conclusion of disciplinary proceedings that some blame attaches to the officer concerned which necessitates cognizance of such fact, the disciplinary authority should award any of the appropriate penalties. If the intention of the disciplinary authority is not to award a penalty of Censure, then no record-able warning should be awarded. There is no restriction on the right of the competent authority to administer warnings purely as an administrative measure and not as a result of disciplinary proceedings.
A warning or reprimand, etc., may also be administered when as a result of a preliminary investigation or inquiry the competent disciplinary authority comes to the conclusion that the conduct of the official is somewhat blameworthy, though not to the extent calling for the imposition of a formal penalty. In such cases the warning should be administered on the orders of the competent disciplinary authority only. In cases where a preliminary inquiry was started at the instance of an authority higher than the competent disciplinary authority, the result of the inquiry should be shown to that authority also before the case is closed with the administration of a warning.
Displeasure of Government (Pararaph 4)
On occasions, an officer may be found to have committed an irregularity or lapse of a character which though not considered serious enough to warrant action being taken for the imposition of a formal penalty or even for the administration of a warning but the irregularity or lapse is such that it may be considered necessary to convey to the officer concerned the sense of displeasure over it. Such displeasure is usually communicated in the form of a letter and a copy of it may, if so decided, be placed on the character roll of the officer in the manner indicated in para 3.2. for placing a copy of the warning on the CRs. Where a copy of the letter communicating the Displeasure of the Government is kept in the character roll of the officer, it will constitute an adverse entry and the officer concerned will have the right to represent against the same in accordance with the existing instructions relating to communication of adverse remarks in Confidential Reports and consideration of representations against them
Reduction of Pension (Paragraph 5)
A Government servant ceases to be subject to the disciplinary rules after retirement. Pension and Gratuity once sanctioned cannot be reduced, withheld or withdrawn except in accordance with the provisions of rule 9 of the CCS(Pension) Rules, 1972 or the Rule 6 of the AIS (Death-cum-Retirement Benefit) Rules, 1958 in the case of officer of All India Services. The procedure to be followed in such cases is given in Chapter XV.
Disciplinary Authority (paragraph 6)
Rule 2 (g) of the CCA Rules defines the term disciplinary authority as the authority competent to impose on a government servant any of the penalties specified in Rule 11. The penalties specified in clauses (i) to (iv) (i.e. any of the minor penalties) may, however, also be imposed by an authority lower than the appointing authority on a member of a Central Civil Service or on a holder of a post included in the General Central Service as specified in the schedule in the CCA Rules or by any other authority empowered in this behalf by a general or special order of the President.
Rule 12 of the CCA Rules also provides that:-
The President may impose any of the penalties specified in Rule 11 on any Government servant; and
in respect of a member of a Central Civil Service Class III (other than the Central Secretariat Clerical Service) or of a Central Service Class IV, any of the penalties specified under Rule 11 may be imposed by:-
the Secretary to the Government of India in a Ministry/Department of the Government of India if the Government servant concerned is serving in that Ministry or Department, or
if he is serving in any other office, by the head of the office, except where the head of that is lower in rank than the authority competent to impose a penalty as specified in the schedule to the CCA Rules.
The Schedule to the CCA Rules referred to in sub-paras 6.1. and 6.2. above enumerates the services and posts under different Ministries/ Departments/offices and the authority empowered to impose penalties on member of the services and holders of posts. Every Chief Vigilance Officer/Vigilance Officers should keep the Schedule in so far as it pertains to services and posts with which he is concerned under a constant review to ensure that necessary amendment is made to the Schedule as soon as a new service or a post not covered by the existing Schedule is created or an amendment becomes necessary for any other reason.
The exercise of the power by the disciplinary authority is subject to the provisions of sub-rule (4) of Rule 12 of CCA Rules wherever that rule is attracted.
The disciplinary authority is determined with reference to the post held by an official at the time disciplinary proceedings are instituted against him. Therefore, if a Government servant is promoted to a higher post, the disciplinary authority shall be determined with reference to that higher post even if the promotion is on a temporary basis. Similarly where a Government servant is reverted to a lower post and at the time of institution of proceedings is holding a lower post, the disciplinary authority shall be determined with reference to that lower post.
Authority competent to institute disciplinary proceedings under CCA Rules.(Paragraph 7)
The President (or any other authority empowered by him by a general or special order) may institute or may direct a disciplinary authority to institute disciplinary proceedings against any Government servant
Even if disciplinary authority is competent to impose only a minor penalty, it is competent to initiate disciplinary proceedings as for a major penalty.
Authority competent to initiate proceedings under the A.I.S. (D & A) Rules, 1969.
(Paragraph 8)
Under Rule 7 of the All India Services (Discipline and Appeal) Rules, 1969, disciplinary proceedings against a member of the All India Services may be instituted:-
by the Government under whom he is for the time being serving, if the act or omission which has rendered him liable to a penalty was committed before his appointment to an All India Service;
by the Government under whom he was serving at the time of the commission of such act or omission if the act or omission was committed after his appointment to an All India Service.
The Central Government can initiate disciplinary proceedings against a member of an All India Service if the act or omission was committed while he was serving under the Central Government or while on deputation to any public sector undertaking or local authority under the Central Government. The Central Government can also initiate disciplinary proceedings against a member of an All India Service who has gone back to the State if the act or omission was committed while he was on deputation under the Centre.
A State Government can similarly initiate proceedings against a member of an All India Service for the imposition of any of the penalties, including any of the major penalties, if the act or omission was committed while he was serving under the State Government. But under rule 7(2) of A.I.S. (D&A) Rules, the penalty of dismissal, removal or compulsory retirement shall not be imposed on a member of the Service except by an order of the Central Government with the Ministry of Home Affairs and the Department of Personnel and Training.
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