CVC warns govt officials against disciplinary plaints close to retirement

The Central Vigilance Commission (CVC), the apex vigilance institution in the country, has warned all departments, organisations and ministries of consequences if any reference related to disciplinary proceedings/action against public servants is sent closer to their retirement dates, officials said.

Every department or a government organisation has a chief vigilance officer (CVO) who is usually responsible for finalising a disciplinary proceeding against officials indulging in any activity in violation of the norms.

The Commission had in 2007 and then 2011 made it clear that if CVOs do not prioritize the cases against officers “due to retire shortly”, then it would take a serious view of such an attitude.

However, the practice continued following which, the CVC on Tuesday issued an order stating if the vigilance complaints and references are not sent by the first week of the month of superannuation of the officer (s) concerned, then it would not render its advice. Instead, it would recommend action against the authority concerned.

A senior CVC officer, who asked not to be named, said, “This is a final warning to the CVOs/concerned departments.”

Explaining the need for such an order, the officer added, “The apex vigilance body lately witnessed that some departments, particularly central public sector units (CPSUs) and public sector banks (PSBs) had a set pattern where they used to refer the vigilance and investigation cases to the Commission seeking its advice at the last moment and sometimes even a few days before retirement of officer (s).”

Some references were even received by it in the second half the month when an officer is due to retire.

This led to the CVC not getting enough time to examine the matter, further giving advantage to the suspect public servants and initiation of disciplinary proceedings at the fag end of service of an officer.

The Commission recently asserted its power in vigilance matters when it recommended the removal of former Central Bureau of Investigation director Alok Verma from his post in October last year. Verma was reinstated by the Supreme Court briefly in January this year but the government sacked him on January 10 again on the recommendation of the CVC.