Government officers cannot be suspended beyond a week, unless Centre's consent

New Delhi: The new service rules being formulated by the Centre for top bureaucrats will ensure that an IAS or IPS officer cannot remain suspended beyond a week except for a prior sanction of a review committee to the respective state governments.

In addition, the state governments will have to inform the Centre within 48 hours about the suspension of an all India services officer that are primarily from the Indian Administrative Service (IAS), Indian Police Service (IPS) and Indian Forest Service (IFoS), if the rules come into force.

This is a significant move being initiated by the Centre as the civil servants have been demanding protection against arbitrary suspensions and transfers of bureaucrats by the state governments.

In the past, officers like Ashok Khemka, Durga Sakthi Nagpal and Kuldip Narayan among others have allegedly been victims of arbitrary suspensions and transfers. The ministry of personnel has received a number of representations in this regard.

According to the draft All India Services (Discipline and Appeals) Amendments Rules, 2015, for continuing suspension beyond a week, the appropriate government will have to get the recommendations of the Civil Services Board or Central Review Committee as the case may be.

However, the new rules further make it mandatory for state governments to confirm the order of suspension from the Centre of an IAS, IPS and IFoS officer within 30 days.

In existing rules, the period is 45 days. “As soon as a member of the service is placed under suspension or is deemed to have been placed under suspension, the information shall be communicated to government of India by fastest means and definitely within 48 hours,” as per the new rules.