O.M. No-1/2016
Office of the Director General of Income Tax(Vigilance)
1st Floor, Dayal Singh Public Library Building, 1,
Deen Dayal Upadhyay Marg, New Delhi-110002.
F.No. Pr. DGIT(Vig.)/ITO (HQ)/O.M./2016-17/2180 Dated: 22.08.2016
To
All Chief Commissioner of Income Tax (CCA)
All Director General of Income Tax
Sir/Madam,
Sub: Procedure for empanelment of retired officers as the Inquiry Officers for conducting departmental inquiries – Instructions regarding.
Kindly refer to above.
The undersigned is directed to state that as per O.M. dated 07/01/2016 received from DOP &T circulated vide F.No. 142/40/2015-AVD.I a panel of retired officers from the Ministry/ Departments under Govt. of India and PSUs is to be created and maintained by respective cadre Controlling Authorities for conducting Departmental Inquiries against the delinquent officials.
Accordingly the policy for empanelment of retired IRS officers as Inquiry Officers is laid down as under:-
2. Advertisement:-
DGIT(Vig.) shall publicize the issue through Electronic medial Print Media or in any other manner as considered appropriate. Further, all Pr. CCIT(CCA) and zonal ADG(V) shall place the advertisement on their respective notice boards and also give wide publicity to the scheme so that a large number of retired officers who are eligible/ interested for appointment as Inquiry Officers may become aware and can apply accordingly. This w ill facilitate a large number of officers to be considered for empanelment.
3. Preparation of Station Wise list:-
All Pr. CCsIT (CCA) shall forward applications of retired officers of the rank of JCIT and above, who are not more than sixty five years of age as on 1St April of the year of empanelment. To illustrate, for the panel year 2016 the officers who have attained superannuation after 03.2011 are eligible.
4. Preparation of Panel :-
After receipt of such applications directly or from Pr. CCsIT (CCA), office of Pr. DGIT(Vig.) will scrutinize the same and prepare a consolidated station-wise list of Eligible officers for appointment as Inquiry Officer. The panel for appointment of retired officers as the Inquiry Officers shall be prepared on the basis of such list and with the approval of Finance Minister.
5. Screening Committee :-
A screening committee comprising of three officers i.e CVO,CBDT and two officers of the rank of Pr. CIT/CIT shall be formed with the approval of Member (P&V) CBDT for the purpose of evaluation of applications The screening committee shall short list and consider the eligible/ Competent officers to be appointed as Inquiry Officer. The committee will put-up the list and evaluation report alongwith recommendations before Hon’ble Finance Minister for seeking his approval for empanelment of retired officers as Inquiry Officer.
6.Validity –
The panel of retired officers created for the purpose of appointing Inquiry Officers for conducting departmental inquiry will be valid for a period of three years. However, if any inquiry officer in the panel attains age of 65, he shall be excluded from the panel.
7. Performance Review :-
The performance of the Inquiry Officers shall be reviewed by Pr. DGIT (Vig.) on a quarterly basis and a report shall be submitted to Member (P& V) before 15tn of the month following end of each quarter.
8.Renewal of the term of engagement :-
Applications for renewal of the term of engagement may be submitted by the willing officers. Such applications shall be put-up before the Finance Minister alongwith recommendations of the screening committee for seeking his approval for renewal of the term of engagement of such officers at least 3 months before the expiry of their term. In case approval of the competent authority for renewal of the term is not received in time the screening committee may extend the term for a period not exceeding 3 months.
9. Empanelment of retired officers as Inquiry Officer shall be subject to eligibility and other conditions as laid down by DOP&T O.M F No. 142/40/2015-AVD. I dated rh January 2016 (Copy enclosed)
Encl.: As above.
Yours faithfully,
(Anupam Kant Garg)
Addl.DIT(Vig.)Admn. & Coord
New Delhi
Copy to:- Addl. DIT, Data Base Cell, ARA Centre, Jhandewalan, New Delhi with the request to upload the O.M. alongwith DOP&T O.M. dated 07th January 2016 on IRS officers departmental website www.irsofficersonline.gov.in’
Addl.DIT(Vig.)Admn. & Coord
New Delhi
F.No.142/40/2015-AVD.I
Government of India
Ministry of Personnel, Public Grievances and Pensions
Department of Personnel and Training
New Delhi Dated, the 7th January, 2016
OFFICE MEMORANDUM
Subject:- Procedure for empanelment of retired officers as the Inquiry Officers for conducting Departmental Inquiries- reg.
The undersigned is directed to state that the issue of utilizing the services of retired officers for conducting departmental inquiries had been under consideration of the Department. It has now been decided that panels of retired officers from the Ministries/Departments under Government of India and PSUs would be created and maintained by the respective Cadre Controlling Authorities for conducting Departmental Inquiries against the delinquent officials.
2. Procedure for empanelment of retired officers as the Inquiry Officers–
Panels of retired officers not below the rank of Deputy Secretary in Central Government and equivalent officer in the State Governments/PSUs to be appointed as the Inquiry Officer for the purpose of conducting departmental inquiries would be maintained level/rank wise and place-specific by each cadre controlling authority where its offices are located.
3. Validity of the panel –
The panel of the retired officers created for the purpose of appointing Inquiry Officers for conducting departmental inquiry will be valid for a period of three years. The respective Cadre Controlling Authority will ensure that a panel of retired Inquiry Officers is available with them.
4. Following are the eligibility conditions for appointment of willing retire officers as the Inquiry Officers to conduct departmental inquiries:-
(i) The retired officers willing to serve as the Inquiry Officer should not be more than 65 Years of age as on the 1st April of the year of his/her empanelment.
(ii) He/she should be in sound health – both physically and mentally.
(iii) He/she should not be an accused officer in any pending inquiry and should be of impeccable integrity.
5.The respective Cadre Controlling Authority will immediately take necessary action for inviting applications from willing and eligible retired officers to serve as the Inquiry Officer for conducting departmental inquiry. In this regard, a format for inviting applications is annexed.
6.A three-member committee consisting of Joint Secretary level officers including CVO of the concerned Ministry/Departments/PSUs would be constituted by the respective cadre controlling authority. The other two members can be from the same Ministry/Department or from the attached or subordinate After receipt of willingness of the retired officers, names of the officers will be screened by the committee so constituted and panel of officers (Database) will be created rank-wise viz., Deputy Secretary, Director, Joint Secretary, Additional Secretary, Secretary, etc. Approval of Minister-in-charge may be solicited for making the panel of the officers. Appointment of Inquiry Officer, from the panel of eligible retired officers, will be done by a random draw of lot. The Committee constituted for making panels of retired officers as the Inquiry Officer has to keep in mind that applications of retired officers willing to serve as an Inquiry Officer should be scrutinized carefully to ensure that the applicant meets the eligibility criteria.
7. The number of disciplinary cases assigned to an Inquiry Officer may be restricted to 20 cases in a year, with not more than 4 cases at a time.
8.Terms and conditions for appointment of retired officers as the Inquiry Officer.
The designated Inquiry Officer shall require to give an undertaking as follows:-
(i) that he/she is not a witness or a complainant in the matter to be inquired into or a close relative or a known friend of the delinquent Government officer.
(ii) shall maintain strict secrecy in relation to the documents he/she receives or information/data collected by him/her in connection with the inquiry and utilize the same only for the purpose of inquiry in the case entrusted to him/her.
9. No such documents/information or data shall be divulged to anyone during the Inquiry or after presentation of the Inquiry Report. All the records, reports etc. available with the Inquiry Officer shall be duly returned to the authority which appointed him/her as such, at the time of presentation of the Inquiry Report.
10. The Inquiry Officer shall conduct the inquiry proceedings in the official premises provided by the Department/Organization, which engages him/her.
11. The Inquiry Officer shall undertake travel for conducting inquiry (in unavoidable circumstances) with the approval of the Disciplinary Authority.
12. The Inquiry Officer shall submit the inquiry report after completing the inquiry within ninety days from the date of his/her appointment as the Inquiry Officer. Extension of time beyond ninety days can be granted only by the Disciplinary Authority.
13. The rates of honorarium and other allowances payable to the Inquiry Officer will be as under:-
| Particulars/Details | Rate per case (in Rupees) | Joint Secretary and above | ||
| Items | Category | Time taken to complete the inquiry proceedings | Dy. Secretary/Director | |
| Honorarium | ‘I’ | Within 45 days | Rs. 60000 | Rs.75000 |
| `II’ | Within 90 days | Rs. 40000 | Rs. 50000 | |
| `III | Beyond 90 days | Rs. 30000 | Rs. 40000 | |
| Transport Allowance | Rs.40000/- per case. | |||
| Secretarial Assistance | Rs.30000 per case if no secretarial assistance is provided by the Ministry/Department concerned | |||
Payment will be made to the Inquiry Officer only when the report is accepted by the Disciplinary Authority. In case it is not possible to proceed with the matter due to stay by courts etc., the Inquiry Officer may be discharged from his/her duties and payment of honorarium and other allowances will be made on pro rata basis.
14. Before the payment is received by the Inquiry Officer, it will be his/her responsibility to ensure that:-
(a) All case records and inquiry report (two ink signed copies) properly documented and arranged is handed over to the Disciplinary Authority.
(b) The report returns findings on each of the Articles of Charge which has been enquired into should specifically deal and address each of the procedural objections, if any, raised by the charged officers as per the extant rules and instructions.
(c) There should not be any ambiguity in the inquiry report and therefore every care should be taken to ensure that all procedures for conducting departmental inquiries have been followed in accordance with the relevant rules/instructions of disciplinary and appeal Rules to which the delinquent Government officials are governed.
15 .Letter regarding engaging a retired officer as the Inquiry Officer will only be issued with the approval of the Disciplinary Authority of the Ministry/Department/ Office concerned.
16.The Department of Personnel & Training (AVD.I) may be consulted in case of clarification(s) on any of the issues related to empanelment of retired officer as an Inquiry Officer for conducting departmental inquiries.
17. The services of Inquiry Officers whose performance is not upto the mark will be terminated with the approval of appointing authority.
(K.Srinivasan)
Under Secretary to the Government of India
Tel.No. 23040291
To
All Ministries / Departments ( As per Standard List)
APPLICATION FOR APPOINTMENT OF RETIRED GOVERNMENT SERVANTS AS THE INQUIRY OFFICER TO CONDUCT DEPARTMENTAL INQUIRY Name of the officer
(In capital letters)
| Date of retirement from government service : | |
| Age on the date of submitting the application : | |
| Last Post held before retirement : | |
| Details of the Ministry and posts held during the service : | |
| Have you ever assigned the responsibility of the Inquiry Officer : | |
| If yes, the details thereof : | |
| Whether retired on attaining the age of Superannuation or voluntary retirement : | |
| Whether any Penalty was imposed during the service | |
| If yes, the details thereof : |
Name and signature
Permanent/Present Address &
Contact Number
Place:
Date:
(The empanelment of retired officers for their appointment as the Inquiry Officer will be done by a Committee comprising of three Joint Secretary level officers including CVO of the concerned MinistrylDepartments/PSUs)
