Before taking action against corrupt public servants in the state, permission has to be taken from the Under Secretary of the department or an officer of higher rank. Also, officers below the rank of DIG will not be able to register a case of disproportionate assets (DA) against any suspected public servant under Section 17A of the Prevention of Corruption Act, 1988. Only DIG rank officers will take permission to register a case by filling the prescribed format. Category-wise responsibility has been assigned to officers above the rank of DIG i.e. up to DGP or equivalent rank to prosecute officers of different ranks or public representatives.
Three years ago, the Central Personnel and Pension Ministry had issued detailed guidelines for taking action against disproportionate assets. Now, the Principal Secretary of the Vigilance Department, Arvind Kumar Chaudhary, has instructed the heads of all departments of the state government to follow them to the letter. A copy of the order has been sent to the Additional Chief Secretary, Principal Secretary, Secretary of all departments, the Principal Secretary to the Governor, DGP, all divisional commissioners and DM.
In this letter issued from the departmental level, it has been made mandatory to follow the standards (SOP) set by the Central Personnel Ministry for taking action against any public servant in a DA case. In this, all the departments along with the agencies registering DS cases and investigating them such as units like Surveillance Bureau, Special Surveillance Unit and EOU have been specifically instructed to strictly follow the rules.
What will be the format?
It will be mandatory to submit the details of the officer against whom permission to run a DA case is required by filling it in the prescribed form to the concerned police officer. In this format, the name of the department, name of the officer, designation and department, email ID and mobile number will have to be filled.
These officers can file a case for DA
1- DGP or equivalent- Union Minister, Cabinet Minister or their equivalent, Lok Sabha MP, Chief Minister, State Ministers, MLAs, Supreme Court and High Court Judges, Chairman or Managing Director of any Board, Corporation or any other Public Sector Undertaking under the Center and State and all such public servants whose pay scale falls at Level-16 or above after the Seventh Pay Commission.
2- ADG or equivalent – All public servants receiving pay scale of level 14 and 15 (Secretary and Principal Secretary), GM, Director of any Board Corporation or any Public Sector Bank and other persons holding equivalent post.
3- IG – All public servants drawing pay scale from level 11 to 13 (including Joint Secretary, Under Secretary, etc.) and middle level managers of any public sector undertaking or bank.
4. DIG – All levels of public servants below level 11, all levels of public servants except lower level managers of public undertakings.
