The need for quick disposal of cases of Government servants under suspension and in particulars the completion of investigation for filing the charge sheet in the court whose prosecution is sought to be launched can hardly be over emphasised. The Government of India have issued orders in the O.M. first cited that every effort should be made to file the charge sheet in court or serve it on the Government servant concerned as the case may be, within three months of the date of suspension and in cases in which it may not be possible to do so, the disciplinary authority should report the matter to the next higher authority explaining the reasons for the delay.
2. In the O.M. second cited, the Government of India have directed that while in the public interest as well as in the interest of employees, no avoidable delay should occur in the disposal of disciplinary cases, it is necessary that sufficient time is available to the disciplinary authority to apply its mind to all relevant facts which are brought out in the inquiry before forming an opinion about the imposition of a penalty, if any, on the Government servant. While, therefore, it has to be ensured that the prescription of any time limit for the disposal of the inquiry report by the disciplinary authority by making a provision in this regard in the C.C.S.(CCA) Rules should not lead to any perfunctory disposal of such cases, taking all relevant factors into consideration, it was felt that in cases which did not require consultation with the Central Vigilance Commission or the Union Public Service Commission, it should normally be possible for the disciplinary authority to take a final decision on the inquiry report within a period of three months at the most. In cases where the disciplinary authority feels that it is not possible to adhere to this time limit a report may be submitted by him to the next higher authority indicating the additional period within which the case is likely to be disposed of and the reasons for the same. In cases requiring consultation with the Central Vigilance Commission and the Union Public Service Commission also, every effort should be made to ensure that such cases are disposed of as quickly as possible.
3. In the O.M. third cited, the Government of India, have stated that although the appellate authorities are expected to give a high priority to the disposal of appeals, there might be cases in which the hands of the appellate authority are too full, and it may not be able to devote the time and attention required for the disposal of appeals within a short period. In such cases, the appellate authority can be relieved of his normal work to such an extend as would be necessary to enable him to devote the required time and attention to the disposal of the appeals pending before him, by redistribution of that work amongst other officers. In order to achieve quicker disposal of appeals, the Central Government have directed that a detailed statement of appeals pending disposal, for over a month, should be submitted by the appellate authority to the next authority, indicating the reason on account of which the appeal could not be disposed of within one month and further time likely to be taken for disposal of each such appeal along with the reason therefor, to enable the higher authority to go into the reasons for delay in the disposal of appeals pending for more than one month and to take remedial steps wherever necessary to have the pending appeals disposed of without further delay. In cases where the appellate authority is the Government, the aforesaid statement should be submitted to the Secretary to the Government in the concerned Ministry.
4. The Government have decided to adopt the above
instructions of Government of India and direct:-
(i) that every effort
should be made to file the charge sheet in court or serve it on the Government
servant, as the case may be, within 3 months of the date of
suspension and in cases in which it would not be possible to do so, the matter
should be reported to the next higher authority explaining the reasons for the
delay;
(ii) that in cases which do
not require consultation with the Vigilance Commission or the Andhra Pradesh
Public Service Commission, a final decision on the enquiry report should be
taken within a period of three months at the latest, and where it
is not possible to adhere to this time limit, a report should be submitted to
the next higher authority indicating the additional period within which a case
is likely to be disposed of and the reasons for the same. In cases requiring
consultation with the Vigilance Commission and the Andhra Pradesh Public
Service Commission, every effort should be made to ensure that such cases are
disposed of as quickly as possible; and
(iii) that a detailed statement of appeals pending disposal for over three months should be submitted by the appellate authority to the next higher authority indicating the reasons on account of which the appeals could not be disposed of within three months and the further time likely to be taken for the disposal of each such appeal along with reasons therefor to enable the higher authority to take necessary action. In cases where the appellate authority is the Government, the aforesaid statement should be submitted to the Secretary to the Government in the concerned Department.
