Various Penalties Which Could Be Imposed on Civil Servants Proved Guilty of Misconduct:
Prelude:
Every Civil Servant shall be
liable to prescribed disciplinary action & penalties who in the opinion of
the authority, is found guilty of misconduct corruption or engaged in suspected
or subversive activities or is inefficient or has ceased to be efficient may be
punished with penalties either minor or major.
Relevant Provisions:
Section (16) of Civil Servants Act 1973 read with rules 3
& 4 of Government Servants (Efficiency & Discipline) rules 1973.
Cross Reference:
Section 16 of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Civil Servants Act 1973
read with,
Rules 3 & 4 of KP Government Servants (Efficiency
& Discipline) rules 2011.
Grounds for Penalties:
There are two kinds of penalties
which can be imposed on accused Government Servant on the following grounds.
Inefficiency:
A Civil Servant who is inefficient
or has ceased to be efficient may be awarded with penalty.
Misconduct:
A Civil Servant who is guilty of
misconduct, the competent. authority may award him minor or major penalties.
According to rule (1) (4)
Misconduct means Conduct
·
Prejudicial to good order or Service
discipline, or
·
Contrary to Government Servants (Conduct)
rules 1964, or
·
Unbecoming of an officer and a gentleman.
And includes any act on the part
of a Government Servant to bring or attempt to bring Political or other outside
influence directly or indirectly to bear on the Government or any Promotion,
transfer, Punishment, retirement or other conditions of Service of a Government
Servant.
Corruption:
If a person is found to be corrupt
then a penalty may be imposed upon him. A person is considered to be corrupt
if.
·
He or any of his dependents or any other
person on his behalf is in possession of pecuniary resources or of property
disproportion to his known sources of income.
·
He has assumed a style of living beyond his
ostensible means.
·
He has persistent reputation of being
corrupt, or
·
Engaged in Subversive Activities:
If a Civil Servant was found to be
engaged or suspected of being engaged in subversive activities or is guilty of
disclosure of official secrets to any unauthorized person and his presence in
Service is prejudicial to national security.
Type of Penalties:
The penalty means punishment for a
crime or offence which can be categorized into Major Penalties and Minor
Penalties.
MINOR PENALTIES
MAJOR PENALTIES
·
MINOR PENALTIES:
A minor penalty is imposed for a non-serious offense and
it is a kind warning and condemnation, following are minor penalties.
1.
Censure:
The first minor penalty is what is
called Censure. It means the person who is found guilty of any crime such Civil
Servant is criticized harshly and his activities are strictly condemned.
2.
With Holding of Promotion:
If a person is found guilty of any
misconduct there his Promotion or increment may be withheld for a certain
period.
3.
Stoppage of Scale:
The authority may impose on Civil Servants
a penalty of stoppage, for a specific period, at an efficiency bar in the time
scale.
Recovery of Loss from Pay:
If any person was found guilty of an offence due to which
loss has caused to the Government the authority may impose punishment on him
and may recover the whole loss or from any part of it his pay.
·
MAJOR PENALTIES:
Major penalties are imposed on the
Civil Servant found guilty of serious crimes, which has caused very major types
of loss to the Government, following are major penalties.
A.
Reduction to A Lower Grade or
Post:
If any person is guilty of an offense
discussed in section three (3) of the rules, the authority may reduce the line
to a lower post or grade in a time scale.
B.
Compulsory Retirement:
A Civil Servant found guilty of a
serious crime may be compulsorily retired from the Service. Compulsory
retirement is retirement before the term of Service has expired.
C.
Dismissal from Service:
Dismissal from Service is a major
penalty imposed on a person who is guilty of a serious crime. It is a harsh
punishment as compared to removal from Service. Dismissal from Service disqualifies
a person for future employment whereas in removal from Service, the person may
apply for future employment.
Exceptions to Removal or Dismissal
from Service:
Removal or dismissal from Service
shall not apply to a person.
·
Who is appointed on Probation, and is
discharged during or on completion of Probation?
·
Who is appointed temporarily and is
discharged on the completion of or expiration of such period of appointment.
·
Who is appointed on contract and is
discharged by the terms of the contract.
Rights of Accused Before Imposition of Penalty:
AUDI – ALTERAM – PARTEM is the 1st
recognized principle of natural justice therefore no one can be condemned
unheard and an opportunity shall be given to him to explain the circumstances
allegedly charged him for misconduct and another essential is show cause notice
to be given to him before imposing any penalty, therefore the following are the
requirements for impositions of penalties upon Civil Servant.
Personal Hearing
Show Cause Notice
Conclusion:
To sum up, great responsibilities
are heavily burdened on the shoulders of the Civil Servants, as they play
pivotal rule in the development of nations. However, any deviation from their
duties leads them to minor and major penalties but before imposing any penalty
on a Civil Servant he shall be given an opportunity of a personal hearing and
show cause notice otherwise the penalty imposed upon a Civil Servant shall be
liable to be set aside.
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