Seek advice if charges proved in disciplinary cases: Union Public Service Commission to govt

Bhartesh Singh Thakur

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Chandigarh, July 16

The Union Public Service Commission (UPSC) has told the Haryana Government that it could approach it for advice in cases in which the disciplinary authority has held any of the charges as proved against an officer, warranting imposition of a penalty, but not in cases where charges have been dropped.

As proceedings are going on in the Central Administrative Tribunal (CAT) in a contempt petition, the Haryana Government promoted 1989-batch Indian Forest Service (IFS) officer G Raman to the post of the Additional Principal Chief Conservator of Forests (APCCF) on May 23, but provisionally subject to the advice of the UPSC.

Earlier, on October 21, 2021, the CAT directed the state government to consider Raman’s case for promotion to the APCCF post and issue an appropriate order within six weeks. As the order was not complied with, Raman filed a contempt petition. He was facing disciplinary proceedings, which were later dropped. The matter was submitted to the Chief Minister for his approval, who in turn, gave the nod to the proposal on April 25, 2021.

For Raman’s case, the Haryana Government recently wrote to the UPSC that its advice is sought in disciplinary cases according to Article 320 (3)(c) of the Constitution read with Regulation 5 (1) of the UPSC (Exemption from Consultation) Regulations, 1958.

The UPSC, in its reply, dated July 6, cited that as per Rule 9 (4) of the All-India Service (Disciplinary and Appeal) Rules, 1969, in case a charge is proved, the record of the inquiry shall be forwarded by the disciplinary authority to the commission for its advice and it shall be taken into consideration before imposing any penalty. “For dropping the charges, consultation with the commission is not envisaged in the relevant rules. Hence, the case records are returned herewith,” it added.

During the contempt proceedings in the promotion case, the CAT Bench had issued a bailable warrant against senior IAS officer SN Roy to secure his presence, in the last hearing on June 28.

Even after his transfer from the Forest and Wildlife Department to Archives, Archaeology, and Museums, Roy took away files related to Raman. Later, the Chief Secretary declared Roy’s act as unauthorised in his affidavit before the CAT.