Government to amend rules to check arbitrary suspension of officials

The Centre has decided to amend rules to check arbitrary suspension of IAS, IPS and IFoS officials and to bring in uniformity in procedure to be followed for conducting disciplinary proceedings against them. 

The information regarding suspension of an IAS, IPS and IFoS official by a state has to be immediately communicated to the Centre by the fastest means, said the rule proposed to be amended by the central government. 

The Department of Personnel and Training (DoPT) has written to all state governments and cadre-controlling authorities seeking comments on the proposed changes in all India Services (Discipline and Appeal) Rules, 1969. 

Every order of suspension and revocation shall be made in a stipulated standard form and "the reasons for every such order shall also be communicated to the appointing authority and the lending authority, through confidential letters along with the order itself", reads the proposed rule. 

The states will also have to send a detailed report on any order of suspension of an officer of all India services-- Indian Administrative Service (IAS), Indian Police Service (IPS) and Indian Forest Service (IFoS)--to the central government within a period of fifteen days of the date on which the officer is suspended or is deemed to have been suspended, according to it. 

The authority should forward copy of appeal and its comments together with the relevant records to the appellate authority within one week of the receipt by a state government and without waiting for any direction from the central government. 

"If the original appeal along with the comments of the state government is not received by the central government within stipulated period, the central government would take a decision on the advance copy of the appeal received by them," the proposed rule said. 

The Centre may at any time, either on its own motion or otherwise, review any order passed under the rules, if there are reasons to believe and to be recorded in writing that injustice is being meted out to a member of service, as per the suggested changes. 

DoPT officials said the rules are proposed to be changed to check arbitrary suspensions of officials and to have uniform procedure for following disciplinary proceedings. 

Comments or views on the proposed amendment in the rules may be sent by January 7. "If no reply is received by the stipulated date in the Department, it will be presumed that the state government has no objection to the proposed amendment," the DoPT said.