- Prologue
- Suspension
- Suspension: salient features?
- Suspending AIS officers
- Suspending Officers on deputation
- Suspension: When?
- Must be suspended?
- Arrest and Automatic suspension
- Salary during Suspension
- Part time job during Suspension
- Resignation during Suspension?
- Reinstatement
- Posting after reinstatement?
- Promotion during Suspension: Sealed Cover Procedure
- Death during suspension?
- Casestudy: Night at Museum Custody
- CaseStudy: Khakhi night halt
- Casestudy: When Encounter specialist resigns
Prologue
so far in the vigilance/ethics series we’ve seen
- Conduct rules
- Complaints
- Enquiries
- Traps
Now it’s time to suspend crooked government employees.
Suspension
What is suspension?
An order that debars the public servant from using his powers and doing his duties.
Why suspend?
- So he cannot temper with records, evidences or witnesses – directly / indirectly using his official position.
- Witnesses may hesitate to depose/testify against the Government servant as long as he is in office.
- To sustain confidence of people in the system, until inquiry is finished.
Suspension: salient features?
- Suspended employee retains the master-servant relationship with government.
- Meaning, he is still subject to all the conduct rules applicable to Government servants. e.g. cannot participate in political activities, cannot lend money at interest, cannot speculate in share market etc.
- He is still liable for any new misconduct during the period of suspension.
- Suspension itself is not penalty. It is only an ‘aid’ to facilitate the inquiry. Therefore Art.311 doesn’t apply. (=he is not entitled to defend himself, cross examine witnesses etc.)
- Employee can be suspended even if he is on leave/ training / absconding.
- Retrospective order of suspension is illegal. e.g. on 12th Nov. 2013 Boss cannot write an order that “Mr. XYZ is suspended with effect from 11th Nov 2013.”
- Retrospective reinstatement is also illegal. e.g. on 12th Nov 2013. Boss cannot write an order to reinstate a suspended officer with effect from 11th Nov.2013.
Suspending AIS officers
- According to All India Services rules, the State government can suspend a member of All India services (IAS, IPS, IFoS) serving under the state government.
- However, such suspension will become invalid IF the state government doesn’t start disciplinary proceedings against that officer within 90 days. (although in rare cases, this limitation can be ignored IF union government permits.)
Suspending Officers on deputation
- For example- An IFoS officer (belonging to Environment ministry) is deputed on some xyz post in Tribal Ministry. Can Tribal ministry suspend him? Yes they can.
- But the borrowing authority (Tribal ministry) have to inform the lending authority (Environment ministry) about the circumstances that led to suspension.
Suspension: When?
- In the exam, you might face a tempting Case study where you want to write ‘suspend xyz officer’. But “suspension” is not the answer in every case study.
- Suspension causes a lasting damage to Government servant’s reputation even if he is exonerated or is ultimately found guilty of only a minor misconduct. This damages staff morale.
- Therefore decision should be taken after taking all factors into account with care and caution.
- Usually when a complaint is made against any officer, standard operating procedure is:
complaint | action |
Administrative angle=> | Preliminary enquiry=>departmental proceedings =>punishment. |
vigilance/criminal angle=> | Discreet/regular enquiry=>FIR=>investigation=>court proceedings =>punishment. |
The decision to suspend usually comes after the prelim/discreet/regular enquiry is finished.
Guiding Principle: ‘public interest vs. cost to exchequer’. Because
- suspended employee gets salary without doing any work=burden on public exchequer. And
- suspended employee=less manpower in the office= Workload increases.
Therefore, in minor administrative misconducts, don’t suspend. Just finish inquiry impose any minor penalty on him and finish the case. For example,
- If an employee is caught filing bogus LTC claim.
- Brought fake certificate from doctor to get medical leave.
- Occasionally came late to office/ left the office early.
- Damaged some office equipment by mistake.
Must be suspended?
In following situation, he must be suspended:
- serious negligence/dereliction of duty
- Refuses to obey written orders of superior officer.
- He is facing Criminal investigation. Then he should be suspended even if he is released on bail.
- prima facie there is sufficient material to give him a major penalty (viz. dismiss, remove, rank-reduction)
- If State government asks an All India services officer (IAS, IPS, IFoS) to go on leave but he refuses.
- caught red pink handed in phenolphthalein test during ACB/CBI trap for bribes.
- In all Public scandals. Must be suspended to restore public faith in system.
- When preliminary (informal) enquiry reveals some wrongdoing. And if he continues in service, he is
- likely to influence investigation e.g. temping with witness/documents/evidences
- likely to subvert official discipline
- likely to bring down staff morale
- Any conduct involving moral turpitude (lewdness, sexual harassment, dowry etc.)
- Misuse of official powers for personal gains
- Misappropriation, embezzling Government money; his negligence caused serious loss to public exchequer
- has disproportionate assets.
- Deserted his post during crisis period.
- endangering national / state security
Arrest and Automatic suspension
- If a government employee has spent more than 48 hours in custody- he is automatically “deemded” suspended. (Even if his boss don’t know about that he is arrested.)
- if he is arrested in dowry death case- must be suspended, irrespective of how many hours spent in custody.
- If a government servant is arrested, Police has to inform his superior.
- Arrested employee himself too has the duty to inform his superior as soon as possible. If he hides details of his arrest, he will be subjected to a separate disciplinary proceedings (and punishment). And he cannot claim double jeopardy.
Salary during Suspension
- Suspended employee doesn’t get full salary but gets subsistence allowance.
- Subsistence allowance is meant for the “subsistence” of him and his family. Why?
- Just because he is not allowed perform job, his family should not be made to suffer.
- Out of desperation for money, he might involve in some other mischief.
- Suspension itself is not punishment. But a tool to help in investigation.
- Subsistence allowance= approximately half the average salary. (Also get Dearness Allowance (DA), compensatory (city) allowance, house rent allowance.)
- Government can decrease this allowance: IF Suspension prolongs because of officer’s fault. e.g. he adopts dilatory tactics, doesn’t cooperate with investigation etc.
- Government can increase this allowance if suspension prolongs without officer’s fault. e.g. departmental officials are not finishing inquiry quickly.
- Subsistence allowance falls under taxable income. Meaning suspended employee has to pay income tax (if he falls under tax-brackets)
- If he continues to live in government quarters then he has to pay house rent and allied charges of electricity, water, telephone bill etc.
- From his subsistence allowance, government cannot deduct GPF/provident fund contribution, postal insurance premium etc. unless he agrees.
Part time job during Suspension
- Suspended employee can take up other employment, business, profession during suspension but ONLY with permission from government
- But If he start such private job/business, then government will stop paying him subsistence allowance, DA, HRA.
- If he start such private job/business without government’s permission => he can face separate punishment under conduct rules. And cannot claim double jeopardy. (i.e. he cannot make excuse that I’m punished twice for same offense.)
Resignation during Suspension?
What if suspended officer gives his resignation before departmental inquiry / court case is completed?
DoPT guidelines for all India services officers (IAS, IPS, IFoS):= Normally, such officers are placed under suspension only in cases of grave delinquency, it would not be correct to accept a resignation of an officer under suspension.
Resignation should be accepted IF
- Inquiry is taking forever to finish. It would cheaper on public exchequer to accept resignation.
- Evidences are not strong enough to dismiss / remove that suspended officer if inquiry/criminal case continues.
- Alleged offence does not involve moral turpitude. (Lewdness in office, sexual harassment, rape, dowry death etc.) Ruchika Girhotra case is a prime example of moral turpitude by an IPS officer.
Corollary to that, resignation should not be accepted IF
- Inquiry is about to finish.
- Strong evidences are found- it is possible to dismiss/remove that officer when inquiry is concluded.
- Alleged offence involves moral turpitude.
Leave for employee under investigation?
Suppose, ACB/CBI is investigating the matter. Employee is not suspended but transferred to a non-focal post. In such situation, he should not be granted leave- to prevent him from tampering with investigation. (Except in rare/genuine cases e.g. medical emergency.)
Reinstatement
After a government servant is suspended, four things can happen:
departmental inquiry/proceeding finds him ____ | consequence |
|
His Game Over. No need to reinstate. |
|
Suspended employee has to be reinstated. |
|
officer has to be reinstated. |
|
Department may reinstate him back to the job. (except during grave cases or when two years passed because he did not fully cooperate with inquiry) |
for example:
- 2006: encounter specialist Daya Nayak: got suspended for disproportionate asset.
- 2009: ACB could not unearth any evidence to prove the charges against Nayak, and thus could not file a chargesheet
- 2012: Daya Nayak reinstated back in the job.
Posting after reinstatement?
When Suspended officer is reinstated, he is posted far off from the place where he served before suspension. Why?
- So he cannot do ‘witch-hunting’ or take revenge on any junior staff (or local public) who may have given complaint/ evidence / testimony against him during the inquiry
- Saves him from uncomfortable situation/embarrassment while dealing with same local public and colleagues.
- Saves local public from any negative vibes or fear of reprisal while re-visiting the same office.
Promotion/ Increment after reinstatement?
If suspended officer is reinstated, it means two things could have happened:
departmental inquiry/proceeding | consequences |
found him “not guilty” |
|
found him guilty, gave ‘minor punishment’ |
|
Promotion during Suspension: Sealed Cover Procedure
- What if a government servant is suspended but the ‘promotion round’ comes for his batchmates?
- In such case, “Sealed Cover” procedure is adopted.
- Government servants in respect of whom prosecution for a criminal charge is pending.
- Departmental Promotion Committee (DPC) will assess his suitability for promotion without taking into consideration the disciplinary case/ criminal prosecution pending.
- Then, DPC will write its recommendation in a ‘sealed cover’. (whether to promote him or not?)
- This sealed cover will be the disciplinary case/criminal case is over.
- if he is completely exonerated=> will get promotion, if sealed cover says yes. This promotion will be with retrospective effect. Meaning if others had got promotion after him, during his suspension – he’ll still be considered their senior and get salary accordingly.
- but if he is found guilty in disciplinary case/ criminal case, the sealed cover’s recommendation will be ignored.
Death during suspension?
- If suspended officer dies before the departmental inquiry / court case is concluded then the period between the date of suspension and the date of death shall be treated as “duty”.
- And his family is paid full pay and allowances for the said “duty” period.
anyways, enough theory, let’s check some case studies.
Casestudy: Night at Museum Custody
DevAnand is a section officer in A’bad district collector’s office. In December he goes to Goa to celebrate New Year with his college batchmate Prem Chopra. Both go to a bar, Prem Chopra gets drunk and start argument with some local youth, leads to rucksack and fight. Dev tries to calm situation, but police arrives and arrests them both. Next morning Dev released on bail, goes back to A’bad and reports on duty. His boss Collector Pran asks “why your phone was unreachable?” Dev lies, “Sir I had gone to my ancestral village and phone had stopped working.”
Dev thinks in his head, “I’m fully justified in lying to my boss because:
- I was wrongly arrested without any fault.
- If I tell my boss I was arrested. It’ll negatively affect my promotion prospects and reputation among colleagues.
- It was a small matter happened in Goa, nothing will come in local Gujarati newspapers and nobody needs to know otherwise.
Has Dev made the right decision?
Hints:
- If a government servant is arrested, police has to send details to his senior officer. So sooner or later, Pran is going to receive an official letter from Goa police anyways. Hence the shelf life of Dev’s lie=very low.
- After that, whatever Dev says in his defense that Prem Chopra started fight, I had done nothing etc. = Pran unlikely to believe him.
- Dev may have been arrested without any of his fault, but if he is subjected to a disciplinary action for hiding facts about his arrest=that will be entirely his fault.
CaseStudy: Khakhi night halt
Surat Police Commissioner has sent a Sub-inspector (SI) to bring an accused from Jaipur Police’s custody in a high profile case. While returning from Jaipur with the accused, this SI spends night at a private hotel in Ahmedabad, rather than directly taking him to Surat.
Commissioner | Why are you late? |
SI | Because I made halt in A’bad. |
Commissioner | Why did you make halt in A’bad? |
SI | Because I couldn’t catch direct train from Jaipur to Surat, so took another train to A’bad. and I had got permission from ACP for doing so. |
ACP | Yes, I gave permission because he said he couldnot catch the direct train. |
In the meantime, local media sensationalizes the news- how the accused was allowed meet his girlfriend in the hotel and may have destroyed some evidence hidden in A’bad with connivance of Sub Inspector etc.
Should Commissioner accept the explanations given by his subordinates and forget this entire episode?
Hints:
Actually this is based on a real case and commissioner had suspended the Sub inspector and removed ACP from the investigation. What we can derive is:
- High profile case/ public scandal. Need to suspend any negligent official to restore public’s faith in system. Therefore Sub Inspector has to be suspended till further inquiry of whether he deliberately made delay to stay in A’bad.
- ACP is removed from the investigation because may be he doesn’t commend the fear / authority among his sub inspectors and hence they’re lax/negligent in their work and even dare to misguide him! Better to hand over investigation to another ACP.
Casestudy: When Encounter specialist resigns
A suspended IPS officer has spent last seven years in jail, for involvement in alleged fake encounter cases. He submits resignation accusing the State government of failing to protect upright police officers like him, who fought against “Pakistan-inspired terrorism”. Should the State Government accept his resignation and forward it to Union home ministry?
Hints:
- No. Because he is accused in Grave / heinous crime. If the fake encounter cases are proved, he faces dismissal (=not eligible for future employment under government + no pension / gratuity)
- therefore, he should not be allowed to get away easily with resignation.
- besides, DoPT guidelines for all india service officers= Normally, as members of service are placed under suspension only in cases of grave delinquency, it would not be correct to accept a resignation of a member of service under suspension.
thanks a lot sir.
Hats Off to mrunal sir!!
Afterall who takes so much of pain these days without expecting any monetary benefits in return…. Therefore I would like to take this opportunity to THANK mrunal sir and would also in turn request him to keep providing us with such useful articles!
Hi Mrunal,
I am a B.Tech student.. and planning to do M.A. economics from IGNOU.. Will i be eligible for appearing in Indian Economic Service then?
TIA.. Please Help..
Regards,
SJ
which book is good for geography (pre and mains general studies )-
Certificate Physical and Human Geography 1st Edition Author: Goh Cheng Leong or Indian and World Geography (Paper-1) 1st Edition
Authored By: Majid Husain
Very very nice
“Insanity is doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results.” —
Albert Einstein
From Civil Services Exam perspective, this means that if you fail in
Prelims or Mains or Interview, then THINK, ANALYZE and CHANGE your strategy. Need
to know how, visit and register yourself with http://www.IASaspirants.com
Sir….
Is suspension i think is revoked not reinstated
reinstated is after removal/discharge or dismissal … sir kindly throw some light on this.
Smita.
I found many Ethics questions and model answers at this facebook page very informative. Do check!
http://www.facebook.com/beautifulmindias
I think they were given in Sri Ram IAS Classes too….
thanks for your precious guideline .this is really helpful for a person preparing alone and away from Delhi.and most important ,a very happy and prosperous new year to you and all others who follow this blog.
SIR, I WANT TO 7TH PAY COMMISSION DATA.
sir i am ias ki teyari kr rha hu or mujhe ias bana h
Sir,
In acb cases demand of bribe are punishable pls give case law or in such cases voice recorder are a evidance that a primary evidance. Any conviction in only demand case pls give case law or any aquital in only demand case sec 7 pls give case law.
please advise me if cbi arrested any officer on the strength of audio recording basis .is it legal for charged or not ? please advise if the complaint is false as the complainant raised loan but reported to cbi that he did not take any loan from bank. advise me what steps to be taken by bank officer for safety by law. please advise me asap. thanks for early response.
suggest any good book for upsc gs-iv paper of ethics with case studies
suggest any good book for upsc gs-iv paper of ethics with case studies.thanks
Question regarding suspension.
Agar officer pe corruption ka case
chal raha ho aur use department ne
suspend bhi kiya hey(initialy for 3
month) to use vapas duty pe kab lete
hey CHARGESHEET file hone ke bad
ya CASE over hone ke bad?
sir, I want to know that, can an employee of company get his salary and reinstead during his suspension period whether working in government e-governance centre.
if a government servant is suspended and after departmental inquiry/proceeding finds him guilty with major penalty (permanent suspension), can he/she appeal to revoke the desicion? plz reply..
With due respect sir, i need ur guidance my brother is selected for ssc & bank po but problem is that a false case of dowry is registered against him.Her wife is not ready for settlement. She is torturing him however there is no arrest or detention.My brother has got bail.FIR is there & chargesheet has been filed.Sir plz suggest me whether he will be able to join govt sector.He is under depression.
Plz plz plz reply.we have got mix response from different people..plz plz suggest us..
We will be very thankful to you.
Sir which book is very effective for peper IV (ethics) and science and Technology.
SIR PLEASE PROVIDE SOME STUDY MATERIALS FOR ETHICS,INTEGRITY AND APTITUDE
During puniment period govt employee can resign
Sir… I want notes of ethics in pdf. Format. So that i could download
I was Dept of Posts, India as a PA from 2006-2010, then joined Income Tax as an Inspector from 2010 on submission of technical resignation. In DoP I was posted in Head Post Office and made entry of all the savings bank transactions done by the sub post offices. During that time few frauds had been done by the counter clerks in Sub Post Offices and they are under prosecution. Whether DoP take any action against me for that fraudspecial done by the other officers after so many years and when I left the department for almost 6 years? Please enlighten me in this regard and refer me certain books and rules in this regard….
When a state government employee can’t perform his duties because of his mental illness can his family members get the job
sir, please notify me go’s number. or information about inheritance of government job of employee by his family members when he can not perform his duties because of his un stable mental status
i have joined dockyard 2016 i resigned my 2017 techanical resignation and i joined railway now i will join to dockyard as same post(first join) so legally any problem sir please tellme sir
When an employee may be suspended under medical rest?
If a employee of govt of India removed from govt services due to long absence. This employee has been reinstated by appeal authority. in concerned year his presence is more than six or complete six months. kindly clarify whether this employee is entitled for annual increment in concerned year.
Sir im 19 years old,my father is a grade-1 motor vehicle driver, working in railway for more than 13 years but now in 2011,my has been dismissed from his railway service by his superiors because of his old case,but in 2013 the court declared that my father has found ‘not guilty’.still we r suffering from it i have two brothers and sisters,now we see our future is spoiling.
My father’s incharge n superior officers didnt wait for the court decision,they just suspended n then dismissed my father from his job in 2013.
My father is innocent,he has no fault.
Please sir i request
we need help,please show me the way that i can fight for my father.
Sir, If a govt employee has been removed from service by the departmental enquiry by wrong and influenced enquiry report what remedy he will get and what he can do next