moving

Welcome to The AIAIASP...........write to us on circlesecretary@gmail.com

DPC : JTS Gr. A cadre for the vacancy year 2015-16

As you know that the proposal for JTS DPC for the vacancy year 2015-16 is under process at Directorate for submission to UPSC. It is learnt that APARs of following officers who are in the Zone of Consideration for promotion to JTS Gr. A cadre for the vacancy year 2015-16 are missing. The details of such wanting APARs are mentioned against their names.


It is requested to all Circle Secretaries, CHQ office bearers and members working in RO/CO to meet the circle administration in person and ensure the submission of requisite documents to Directorate immediately.  Request the circle administration to send original APARs duly completed in all request to Directorate. If APARs are not available, No Report Certificate (NRC) with justified reasons may be sent to Directorate.

 
Sl. No.
Name of the officer (S/Shri)
Circle
Missing ACR/APAR
1
P.C. Sharma
Directorate
ACR/APAR Dossier
2
D. Ramanaiah
A.P.
16.04.09 to 23.07.09
3
B. Narasappa
A.P.
27.08.09 to 31.03.10
4
P. Viswanadham
A.P.
01.04.11 to 28.08.11
5
Ram Lal
J&K
ACR/APAR Dossier
6
Jagannath Baitha
Bihar
01.04.09 to 05.07.09
7
Mahendra Prasad Rajak
Bihar
2012-13
8
Ram Deo Chaudhary
Bihar
2012-13
9
J.M. Khadayata
Gujarat
2011-12
10
M.J. Verma
Gujarat
2010-11, 2012-13
11
Pritam Chand
H.P.
22.12.10 to 31.03.11, 01.04.11 to 08.12.11
12
Arun Kumar Jha
Jharkhand
2013-14
13
A. Koragappa
Karnataka
01.04.11 to 03.01.12, 2012-13, 2013-14
14
R.G. Byateppanavar
Karnataka
2010-11, 2011-12
15
M. Shivaraj
Karnataka
2011-12, 2012-13
16
P.K. Haridas
Kerala
2009-10, 18.12.10 to 31.03.11
17
S.L. Jain
Rajasthan
01.04.10 to 15.08.10
18
R.A. Sharma
Rajasthan
2013-14
19
Promod Kumar Gupta
Rajasthan
2013-14
20
Jai Singh
Rajasthan
2010-11, 2011-12
21
Ram Sahai Meena
Rajasthan
2010-11, 2011-12
22
Ram Singh
Rajasthan
01.04.10 to 15.08.10, 01.01.12 to 31.03.12
23
J. Paul Athisayanathan
Tamilnadu
2011-12
24
S. Ravi
Tamilnadu
01.04.09 to 29.12.09,  2010-11, 2011-12, 01.04.012 to 08.07.12, 01.01.14 to 31.03.14
25
T.V. Sundari
Tamilnadu
1.04.12 to 08.07.12
26
R. Santhakumar
Tamilnadu
2007-08, 2008-09, 2009-10, 2010-11
27
K. Venkatachalam
Tamilnadu
2011-12, 2012-13, 06.12.13 to 31.03.14
28
M. Sriraman
Tamilnadu
2009-10
29
A. Natarajan
Tamilnadu
2009-10, 01.04.10 to 13.10.10
30
P. Mahalingam
Tamilnadu
11.12.11 to 31.03.12, 2012-13
31
Ram Chandra Rathore
U.P.
16.08.11 to 31.03.12
32
Kirity Gupta
West Bengal
30.12.09 to 31.03.10, 01.04.11 to 05.08.11, 2013-14
33
Sarbeswar Bala
West Bengal
2013-14
34
Bidhan Chandra Das
West Bengal
2013-14
35
Prasanta Halder
West Bengal
2013-14
36
Rabindra Nath Majumder
West Bengal
2012-13, 2013-14
37
Ranjit Halder
West Bengal
01.04.09 to 01.12.09, 01.04.12 to 30.11.12, 2013-14

Each Circle Secretary will give compliance report to GS through SMS or whatsApp on CHQ group.

Superannuation Retirement


Shri R V Kulkarni, ADPS, Maharastra Circle Office is retiring from Government Service on Superannuation on 31.07.2015.

This Association Wishes him a very Happy and Healthy Retired Life 

Is there any connection between the report of 7th CPC and OROP announcement?

Is there any connection between the report of 7th CPC and OROP announcement?


“Is there any connection between the submission of report of 7th CPC to Central and the announcement of OROP to Defence Personnel?”

The 7th Pay Commission has announced through on its portal last month that the task was given by the Government to the commission will be completed within the time frame and the commission will submit its recommendations before September this year to Central Government.

Some believe that the two reports could be linked.

“The 7th Pay Commission is all set to submit its report to the Government before August 15.”

“The Prime Minister is expected to announce the implementation of OROP in his Independence Day address to the nation.”

According to unofficial sources, the 7th Pay Commission is going to submit its report to the Government before August 15. The fact that the commission has completed its work much ahead of its deadline is indeed commendable. This is the first time in the history of Pay Commissions that a Commission has completed its report ahead of its deadline. Pay Commissions are synonymous with arrears. Last time, 20-month arrears were paid in two installments. If the new Pay Commission’s recommendations are implemented on time, it would be another first – the first to not have any pending arrears.

On June 24, the Pay Commission itself said on its website that the report-preparation is in its final stage, and that work will be completed on schedule. The announcement was welcomed by Central Government employees, and helped clear lot of doubts in their minds.

www.gservants.com has plenty of unconfirmed reports on various issues related to the 7th Pay Commission, including a minimum basic pay of Rs.21000, removal of the Grade Pay system that was introduced by the 6th Pay Commission, and a uniform 2.86 pay scale for all grades. The website also said that the railway employees federation had confirmed that the 7th Pay Commission will submit its report on August 30. This created tremendous excitement among Central Government employees.

Meanwhile, a popular English newspaper reported that the Pay Commission will submit its report towards the end of October.

In the midst of all these uncertainties, there comes another unconfirmed report that the recommendations will be submitted well before August 15. It adds that the Prime Minister will also announce the OROP scheme in his Independence Day speech.

We have been unable to find out if the 7th Pay Commission has any recommendations on OROP. But, there is wide expectation that the report will have some suggestions related to it.


7th Pay Commission Likely to Hike Salaries By 40%: Credit Suisse

7th Pay Commission Likely to Hike Salaries By 40%: Credit Suisse

The 7th Pay Commission is likely to raise the salaries of government employees by up to 40 per cent, said Neelkanth Mishra, India equity strategist of Credit Suisse. The Pay Commission will submit its recommendations in October and it will be implemented by next year.


"As the Pay Commission numbers come through there could be a 30-40 per cent increase for each individual. It won't be as big as last time because it was driven by a lot of arrears but definitely a large number of government employees will come into the pay bracket which can afford to have, for example, four-wheelers," he said in an interview with NDTV. (Watch the full interview)

Credit Suisse says about one-third of India's middle class is employed by the government and as the 7th Pay Commission comes through, there will be an improvement in discretionary spending.

"In Tier 3, Tier 4 towns where government employees are 50-60 per cent of the middle class, it is very likely that real estate markets will take off again," Mr Mishra said.

Once the Pay Commission submits its recommendations in October, it will take 3-6 months for the Centre and the states to announce its implementation, Credit Suisse said.

Gujarat and Madhya Pradesh have already indicated that they are going to implement the 7th Pay Commission recommendations from January 1, 2016, he said.

As clarity emerges on the 7th Pay Commission, consumption will see an uptick and that could act as a stimulus to the economy, the brokerage said.

However, Mr Mishra struck a note of caution. "Clearly if you see a third or 35 per cent of your middle class getting a 40 per cent or 30 per cent jump in compensation in one shot, the fears of inflation will rise." Expectations of rate cuts can get pushed out and some possible fiscal pressures can emerge, he warned.

TN Govt Declares Public Holiday on 30.7.2015 Over APJ Abdul Kalam’s demise

The State Government of Tamilnadu announced today that the 30th July 2015 declared as Public Holiday as a mark of respect for late former President Dr.APJ Abdul Kalam.

According to a official report published in leading newspapers, it would be holiday for all educational institutions, and government and private establishments on Thursday under the Negotiable Instruments Act, 1881.

Dr.Kalam’s funeral will be scheduled on the day of Thursday 30.7.2015 in Rameshwaram, where he was born.

The Central Government has declared a 7 days national mourning will be observed throughout India from July 27, 2015 to August 2, 2015, both days inclusive. During the period of state mourning, the national flag will fly at half mast on all buildings throughout India where it is flown regularly and there will be no official entertainment.

India Post piggybacks e-commerce growth as ties with Amazon, Snapdeal bear fruit


  • India Post logo
The Postal Department's strategy to focus on fast growing e-commerce segment has bore fruits as it saw a 37% jump in parcel revenues in the past year.
The increase in parcel revenues is in stark contrast to 2% decline in 2013-14, an official of the Communications and IT Ministry said.
With dwindling letter or document traffic, the department is focusing on the fast-growing parcel segment, the official said, adding that various measures have been taken to modernise the department under the Digital India initiative.
As part of initiatives to leverage the e-commerce sector, the department has forged tie ups with leading online marketplaces like Snapdeal, Amazon, Paytm and Yepme for parcel delivery and has also set up modernised 48 centres to handle the packages.
"Investments are being made for augmenting e-commerce parcel booking, transmission and secure handling capabilities and for mechanising delivery, starting with the bigger cities.
48 new state-of-the-art parcel centres have been established as part of this initiative," the official said.
As a result of these efforts, "the parcel revenues have jumped by 37% in the last one year, which is in contrast to 2% decline in 2013-14," the official added. Also, an Android-based mobile app has also been launched with features like real-time tracking, post office search and postage calculator.
The e-commerce sector in India is growing at 47% CAGR and India Post is the only delivery agency with a pan-India reach, the official said.
The official said in its endeavour to help bridge the digital divide, the department has taken an initiative to bring the rural artisans into e-commerce mainstream through a public private partnership.
According to an official in Communications and IT Ministry, as part of the Digital India initiative, various measures have been taken to modernise the Postal Department.
Communication and IT Minister Ravi Shankar Prasad had earlier said that India Post with the world's largest postal network was best suited to offer delivery services to e-commerce firms.
The minister had suggested that India Post should strive to become the largest player in the e-commerce segment.
The postal department has 1,54,882 post offices, of which 1,39,182 are in rural areas. The department employs around 4,60,000 personnel and handles close to six billion mail pieces in a year. 

Transfer and Posting of ASPO's, Aurangabad Region


Promotion and Posting, Aurangabad Region



Steps for conducting inquiry in case of allegation of Sexual Harassment – DoPT Orders

Steps for conducting inquiry in case of allegation of Sexual Harassment – DoPT Orders

G.I., Dept. of Per. & Trg. No.F.No.11013/2/2014-Estt (A-III), dated 16.7.2015

Subject: Steps for conducting inquiry in case of allegation of Sexual Harassment

Undersigned is directed to say that during the meeting of the Chairpersons of Complaints Committees with Secretary (Personnel) on the 16 th April, 2015 it was suggested that the Department of Personnel and Training may prepare a step guide for conduct of inquiry in complaint cases of sexual harassment. Rule 14(2) of the Central Civil Services (Classification, Control and Appeal) Rules, 1965 lays down that the Complaints Committee established in each Ministry or Department for inquiring into complaints of sexual harassment shall hold such inquiry as far as practicable in accordance with the procedure lain down in these Rules.

2. The annexed guide on “Steps for Conduct of Inquiry in complaints of Sexual Harassment” is intended to give the procedure as prescribed in the rules/instructions. This is, however, not intended as a substitute for reference to the Rules and instructions. Members of the Complaints Committees and others who are required to deal with such inquiries should acquaint themselves with Central Civil Services (Classification, Control and Appeal) Rules, 1965, and instructions issued thereunder.

sd/-
(Mukesh Chaturvedi)
Director(E)

No.F.No.11013/2/2014-Estt (A-III), dated 16.07.2015

Steps for Conduct of Inquiry in Complaints of Sexual Harassment

Complaints Committees l. Complaints Committees have been set up in all Ministries/Department and organisations under them in pursuance to the judgement of the Hon’ble Supreme Court in the Vishakha case. As per Section 4(1) of the Sexual Harassment of Women at Workplace (Prevention, Prohibition and Redressal) Act, 2013(“the Act”), the Internal Complaints Committee (referred to as “Complaints Committee” hereafter) is to be set up at every workplace. As per Section 4(2), this will be headed by a woman and at least half of its members should be women. In case a woman officer of sufficiently senior level is not available in a particular office, an officer from another office may be so appointed. To prevent the possibility of any undue pressure or influence from senior levels, such Complaints Committees should involve a third party, either an NGO or some other body which is familiar with the issue of sexual harassment.

What is Sexual Harassment?
2. “sexual harassment” includes any one or more of the following acts or behaviour, (whether directly or by implication), namely:-
(i) physical contact and advances; or
(ii) demand or request for sexual favours; or
(iii) sexually coloured remarks; or
(iv) showing any pornography; or
(v) any other unwelcome physical, verbal, non-verbal conduct of a sexual nature.

3. The following circumstances, among other circumstances, in relation to or connected with any act or behavior of sexual harassment may amount to sexual harassment:
(i) implied or explicit promise of preferential treatment in employment; or
(ii) implied or explicit threat of detrimental treatment in employment ; or
(iii) implied or explicit threat about her present or future employment status; or
(iv) interference with her work or creating an intimidating or offensive or hostile work environment for her; or
(v) humiliating treatment likely to affect her health or safety.

Workplace defined:
4. As per Section 2(0) ofthe Act, the following places are included within the ambit of the expression “workplace”:
(i) any department, organisation, undertaking, establishment, enterprise, institution, office, etc. -established, owned, controlled or wholly or substantially financed by funds provided directly or indirectly by the Central Government;
(ii)hospitals or nursing homes;
(iii) any sports institute, stadium, etc., used for training, sports or other activities relating thereto;
(iv)any place visited by the employee arising out of or during the course of employment -including transportation provided by the employer for undertaking such journey;

Initial relief
5. The Committee will also have the powers to recommend:-
(a) to transfer the aggrieved woman or the charged officer to any other workplace; or
(b) to grant leave to the aggrieved woman up to a period of three months.
(The leave will not be deducted from her leave account.)

Complaints Committee to be Inquiring Authority 6. As per Proviso to Rule 14(2) of CCS (CCA) Rules, 1965, in case of complaints of sexual harassment, the Complaints Committee set up in each Ministry or Department etc. for inquiring into such complaints shall be deemed to be the Inquiring Authority appointed by the Disciplinary Authority for the purpose of these rules. Complaints Committee, unless a separate procedure has been prescribed, shall hold the inquiry as far as practicable in accordance with the procedure laid down in the Rule l4.

Need for investigation 7. The Complaints Committees may act on complaints of sexual harassment when they receive them directly or through administrative authorities etc, or when they take cognizance of the same suo-moto. As per Section 9(1) of the Act, the aggrieved woman or complainant is required to make a complaint within three months of the incident and in case there has been a series of incidents, three months of the last incident. The Complaints Committee may however extend the time limit for reasons to be recorded in writing, if it is satisfied that the circumstances were such which prevented the complainant from filing a complaint within the stipulated period.

8. As mentioned above, the complaints of sexual harassment are required to be handled by Complaints Committee. On receipt of a complaint, facts of the allegation are required to be verified. This is called preliminary enquiry/fact finding enquiry or investigation. The Complaints Committee conducts the investigation. They may then try to ascertain the truth of the allegations by collecting the documentary evidence as well as recording statements of any possible witnesses including the complainant. If it becomes necessary to issue a Charge Sheet, disciplinary authority relies on the investigation for drafting the imputations, as well as for evidence by which the charges are to be proved. Therefore this is a very important part of the investigation.

Dual Role 9. in the light of the Proviso to the Rule 14 (2) mentioned above, the Complaints Committee would normally be involved at two stages. The first stage is investigation already discussed in the preceding para. The second stage is when they act as Inquiring Authority. It is necessary that the two roles are clearly understood and the inquiry is conducted as far as practicable as per Rule 14 of CCS (CCA) Rules, 1965. Failure to observe the procedure may result in the inquiry getting vitiated

10. As the Complaints Committees also act as Inquiring Authority in terms of Rule 14(2) mentioned above, care has to be taken that at the investigation stage that impartiality is maintained. Any failure on this account may invite allegations of bias when conducting the inquiry and may result in the inquiry getting vitiated. As per the instructions, when allegations of bias are received against an Inquiring Authority, such Inquiring Authority is required to stay the inquiry till the Disciplinary Authority takes a decision on the allegations of bias. Further, if allegations of bias are established against one member of the Committee on this basis, that Committee may not be allowed to conduct the inquiry.

11. In view of the above, the Complaints Committee when investigating the allegations should make recommendations on whether there is a prima facie substance in the allegations which calls for conducting a formal inquiry. They should avoid making any judgmental recommendations or expressing views which may be construed to have prejudiced their views while conducting such inquiry.

Decision to issue Charge sheet, and conducting Inquiry 12. On receipt of the Investigation Report, the Disciplinary Authority should examine the report with a view to see as to whether a formal Charge Sheet needs to be issued to the Charged Officer. As per Rule 14(3), Charge Sheet is to be drawn by or on behalf of the Disciplinary Authority. In case the Disciplinary Authority decides on that course, the Charged Officer should be given an opportunity of replying to the Charge sheet. As per Rule 14(5), a decision on conducting the inquiry has to be taken after consideration of the reply of the charged officer.

13. If the Charged Officer admits the charges clearly and unconditionally, there will be no need for a formal inquiry against him and further action may be taken as per Rule 15 of the CCS (CCA) Rules.

The Inquiry-stages
14. In case the Charged Officer denies the charges and his reply is not convincing, the Charge sheet along with his reply may be sent to the Complaints Committee for formal inquiry, and documents mentioned in Rule l4 (6) will be forwarded to the Complaints Committee. As per Section 1 1(3) of the Act, for the purpose of making an inquiry, the Complaints Committee shall have the same powers as are vested in a civil court under the Code of Civil Procedure, 1908 when trying a suit in respect of the following matters, namely:-
(a) summoning and enforcing the attendance of any person and examining him on oath;
(b) requiring the discovery and production of documents; and
(c) any other matter which may be prescribed.

The Section 11(4) of the Act requires that the inquiry shall be completed within a period of ninety days.

15. The Disciplinary Authority shall also in terms of Rule 14(5) (0) appoint a Government servant as a Presenting Officer to present evidence on behalf of prosecution before the Complaints Committee/ Inquiring Authority. The listed documents are to be sent to the Presenting Officer. The Complaints Committee would, thereafter, summon the Presenting Officer and the Charged Officer. As a first step, the charged officer would be formally asked as to whether he admits the charges. As mentioned above, in case of any clear and unconditional admission of any Article of Charge, no inquiry would be held in respect of that Article and the admission of the Charged Officer would be taken on record. The inquiry would be held, thereafter, in respect of those charges which have not been admitted by the Charged Officer. The Charged Officer is also entitled to engage a Defence Assistant. The provisions relating to Defence Assistant are given in Rule 14(8).

7th Pay Commission Report and its important recommendation
16. The Inquiring Authority is, thereafter, required to ask the Presenting Officer to have the prosecution documents, listed in the Charge Sheet inspected by the Charged Officer. Copies of such documents, if not only given to the Charged Officer, would be handed over to him. The Charged Officer would, therefore, be required to submit a list of documents and witnesses which he wants to produce in support of his defense. The Inquiring Authority would consider allowing such documents or witnesses on the basis of their relevance. Normally, any document or witness which reasonably appears to be relevant and helpful in defense may be allowed. Once the documents have been allowed, the Inquiring Authority would send a requisition for these documents to the custodian of such documents.

I7. When the regular hearing commences, the Inquiring Authority would ask the Presenting Officer to produce the documentary evidence. Such documents as are disputed by the Charged Officer have to be proved by the witnesses before they are taken on record. The undisputed documents would be taken on record and marked as exhibits.

Examination of Witnesses 18. Summons would. thereafter, be sent to the witnesses listed in the Charge sheet. The Presenting Officer may choose to produce them in any order he finds appropriate. These witnesses would be examined in the inquiry in the following manner. The examination in chief would be done by the Presenting Officer where the Presenting Officer may ask questions of the witness to ascertain the facts. The witness would, thereafter, be cross-examined by the Defense. After the cross-examination, the Presenting Officer would be given an opportunity to re-examine the witness. In the examination in chief, leading questions are not allowed. These are however allowed in the cross examination.

19. The procedure of Inquiry requires Opportunity to the Charged Officer to cross-examine all the witnesses that appear on behalf of the Prosecution. Failure to do so may be construed as a denial of reasonable opportunity to the charged officer, resulting in vitiation of the Inquiry. If the complainant appears as a witness, she would also be examined and cross-examined. The Inquiry Officer may however disallow any questions which are offensive, indecent or annoying to the witnesses, including the complainant.

20. If Inquiring Authority wishes to ascertain some facts for clarity, he may pose questions to the witnesses. This should however, be done in such a manner as to not show any bias for or against the Charged Officer. This has to be done in the presence of the Presenting Officer and the Charged Officer/Defence Assistant. No inquiry should be conducted behind the back of the charged officer. The witnesses will be examined one by one, and the other witness who are either yet to be examined, or have been examined are not allowed to be present during the examination of a witness.

Daily Order Sheet 21. The Inquiring Authority would also maintain a document called Daily Order Sheet in which all the main events of the inquiry and including requests/representations by the Charged Officer or the Presenting Officer, and decisions thereon would be recorded. For example (i) if the Charged Officer refuses to cross-examine the witnesses, this should be recorded in the Daily Order Sheet (ii) the Daily Order Sheet should record that the Charged Officer had been advised that he has the justify to engage a Defense Assistant (iii) it should also be clearly mentioned that the Charged Officer was aIso informed as to who are eIigible to assist him as Defense Assistant. (iv) the Daily Order Sheet should also record in case request of the Charged Officer for engaging a particular person as Defense Assistant is disallowed in the light of the existing instructions. Daily Order Sheet should be signed by the Inquiring Authority, Presenting Officer and the Charged Officer/Defence Assistant.

Defence Evidence 22. After the prosecution evidence is over, the Charged Officer is required to submit his statement of defense. In this statement, the Charged Officer is required to briefly indicate his line of defense. After this. the Defense evidence will be taken. The evidence will be produced in the same order as the prosecution evidence. First, the documents allowed by the Inquiry Authority would be taken on record and then the witnesses called and their examination, cross-examination and re-examination done. The onIy difference here would be that the Examination in Chief would be done by defense while the cross-examination would be done by the prosecution. The defense would then have the Opportunity of re-examining the witness.

General Examination of the Charged Officer 23. After the Defense evidence is over, the Inquiring Authority shall ask Charged Officer as to whether he wishes to appear as his own witness. In case he does so, he will be examined like any other defense witness. In case however, he declines to do so, the Inquiring Authority is required to generally question him. At this stage due care is required to be exercised that as per Rule I408) the purpose of this stage is to apprise Charged Officer of the circumstances which appear to be against him. This is to enable the Charged Officer to explain them to the Inquiring Authority. Presenting Officer and the Defence Assistant do not take any part in the General Examination. Charged Officer may not be compelled to answer questions during examination by the Inquiring Authority.

Brief 24. After this, the Presenting Officer would be asked to submit his brief. A copy of this brief would be given to the Charged Officer. Both the Presenting Officer and the Charged Officer may be allowed reasonable time for submission of their brief.

25. The Inquiring Authority then writes the Inquiry Report in which the evidence in support of the charges and against them will be examined. The Report should be a speaking one clearly bringing out as to the evidence on the basis of which any particular conclusion has been reached. Based on this analysis, the Inquiring Authority will give its findings on the Articles as proved or not proved. In case any Article of charge is proved only partially, then the Inquiring Authority should record the extent to which that Article has been proved.

Powers of the Committee to make recommendations
26. Normally, the Inquiry Officer is not allowed to make any recommendations in his report. Here the function of the Complaints Committee acting as the Inquiring Authority differs. The Complaints Committee may however, make recommendations including what has been mentioned in para 2 above:
(c) to grant such other relief to the aggrieved woman as may be prescribed; or
(d)to deduct from the salary or wages of the charged officer such sum as it may consider appropriate to be paid to the aggrieved woman or to her legal heirs.
Any amount outstanding at the time of cessation of the services of the charged officer due to retirement, death or otherwise may be recovered from the terminal benefits payable to the officer or his heirs.
Such compensation will not amount to penalty under Rule 11 of CCS (CCA) Rules in terms of the Explanation (ix) to Rule 11 inserted vide Notification of even Number dated 19-11-2014.
Committee may recommend action to be taken against complainant, if the allegation is malicious, or the complainant knows it to be false, or has produced any forged or misleading document.
The Committee may also recommend action against any witness if such witness has given false evidence or produced any forged or misleading document.

27. The Complaints Committee should also remember that as per the Section 16 of the Act, notwithstanding the RTI Act, 2005, information as regards identity and addresses of the aggrieved woman, respondent and witnesses, Inquiry proceedings, Recommendations of the Committee, shall not be published or communicated or made known to public, press or media in any manner. Provided that information may be disseminated regarding the justice secured to any victim of sexual harassment under Act without disclosing the name, address, identity or any other particulars calculated to lead to the identification ofthe aggrieved woman and witnesses.

28. With the above stage, the inquiry would be formally over. The Inquiring Authority should prepare separate folders containing the documents mentioned in Rule l4(23(ii).

Suspension 29. A Government servant may also be placed under suspension before or after issue of a Charge Sheet where his continuance in office will prejudice the investigation, for example if there is an apprehension that he may tamper with witnesses or documents. Suspension may also be resorted to where continuance of the Government servant in office will be against wider public interest such as there is a public scandal and it is necessary to place the Government servant under suspension to demonstrate the policy of the Government to deal strictly with officers involved in such scandals. It may be desirable to resort to suspension in case of misdemeanor involving acts of moral turpitude.

Special provisions to deal with threats or intimidation 30. Disciplinary Authority may also diSpense with inquiry under Rule l9(ii), and action may be taken without the inquiry when the Disciplinary Authority concludes that it is not reasonably practicable to hold such an inquiry. The circumstances leading to such a conclusion may exist either before the inquiry is commenced or may develop in the course of the inquiry. Such situation would be deemed to have arisen:

(i) where the Government servant, through or together with his associates terrorizes, threatens or intimidates witnesses who are likely to give evidence against him with fear of reprisal in order to prevent them from doing so; or iii) where the Government servant himself or with or through others threatens, intimidates and terrorizes the Disciplinary Authority, Members of the Committee, the Presenting Officer or members of their family.

Disciplinary Authority is not expected to dispense with the inquiry lightly, arbitrarily or with ulterior motive or merely because the case against the Government servant is weak.

Authority : www.persmin.nic.in