NEW DELHI : The Central Vigilance Commission has asked all Chief Vigilance Officers (CVOs) of central government departments to report cases of deviation from its advice given to them on penalising corrupt officials, according to an official order.
The CVOs act as a distant arm of the commission to check corruption in central government departments.
The probity watchdog gives its advice to the government organisation concerned for imposition of major penalties like dismissal from service on the accused employees depending on the severity of irregularities committed by them.
The Commission issued an order to the CVOs on Monday asking them to report to it all such cases of deviation from its advice.
“Of late, it has been observed that such deviations at the stage of the appellate authorities are not being timely reported to the Commission by the Chief Vigilance Officers (CVOs) of the organisations,” the CVC said in the order.
In addition, such deviations are also to be reported in the quarterly performance reports (QPRs) being submitted online by the CVOs every quarter, it said.
Citing vigilance manual, the CVC said in matters of appeal, the appellate authority of the department concerned is expected to keep in view the advice tendered by the commission/penalty imposed by the disciplinary authority and decide the appeal.
The order said in case the appellate authority/reviewing authority decides to deviate from the advice given by the Commission and final orders issued by the concerned disciplinary authority, the CVO is required to report such individual cases to the commission.
“The commission while reiterating these instructions would advise all Chief Vigilance Officers to report to the commission such individuals without any delay immediately after decision/orders issued at the appellate/review stage and also indicate in the relevant column in the QPRs filed by the Chief Vigilance Officers,” it said.
The CVC after reviewing such cases received from the CVOs will decide whether the deviation is serious enough to be included in its annual report, the order said.
The commission had listed 44 cases of non-compliance of its advice in its annual report for 2018 tabled in parliament in June last year.
“Non-acceptance of the commission’s advice or non-consultation with the commission vitiates the vigilance process and weakens the impartiality of the vigilance administration,” the CVC’s annual report had said. (AGENCIES)
Follow our WhatsApp channel
