The Centre is likely to make it mandatory for the agencies like CBI to seek prior approval from the competent authority for probing charges of corruption against Government servants, starting from peon to top bureaucrats.
The move assumes significance against the backdrop of demand from IAS officers and other civil servants to provide them protection from the investigating agencies on bonafide decisions taken by them.
Some outstanding officers like former Telecom Secretary Shyamal Ghosh and former Coal Secretaries PC Parekh and HC Gupta are facing probe for their alleged involvement in 2G scam and coal blocks allocation scams.
Official sources said that Department of Personnel and Training (DoPT) may shield both the serving and retired public servants. The decision is based on the recommendations of a select committee of the Rajya Sabha that had examined a Bill seeking to amend the Prevention of Corruption Act, 1988.
“No police officer shall conduct any enquiry or investigation into any offence alleged to have been committed by a public servant under this Act, where the alleged offence is related to any recommendation made or decision taken by such public servant in discharge of his official functions or duties, without the previous approval,” said the panel’s report. Sources said after the Government accepts this “shield” and notify it then it will be mandatory for any probe agency to take prior permission of the competent authority before conducting any investigation against retired and serving public servants — from peon to secretary.
A delegation of IAS officers had recently met Minister of State for Personnel Jitendra Singh and demanded that honest civil servants need to be protected so that they do not shy away from taking administrative decisions.
The permission will be given by the appropriate Governments--Centre and the States--for a serving and retired employee, as per the recent report of the committee on the Prevention of Corruption (Amendment) Bill, 2013.
However, the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) while deposing before the committee had objected to this provision. The CBI opposed the provisions as it may cause unnecessary delay in investigation, it had said.
Public sector undertakings, banks and State Governments supported that competent authority should be the sanctioning authority for investigation and prosecution, while, members of civil society have supported the lokpal or lokayukta to be the sanctioning authority, the report had said.