In a bid to tackle corruption and to fast track cases of public servants accused of graft, a Group of Ministers (GoM) has decided mere retirement will not be a ground for dropping proceedings against corrupt government servants. The GoM also is of the view that after retirement, corrupt public servants will now face a 10 per cent cut in pension in case of minor penalty. The present major penalty of compulsory retirement with full benefits will be changed hereafter with a cut of 20 per cent in pension.
The new rules will be effective under decisions made in the first report of the Group of Ministers on Corruption headed by Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee.
These steps are part of a series of measures accepted by the government for immediate implementation following the recommendations made. Until now, a government servant on the verge of retirement can escape proceedings for minor penalty. The GoM has now decided mere superannuation should not be a ground for dropping proceedings for minor penalty.
The existing major penalty of compulsory retirement with full benefits may be changed to compulsory retirement along with a provision that the competent authority may impose up to 20 per cent cut in pension. However, there would be no cut in pension in those cases of compulsory retirement of officers being weeded out for non-performance.
Taking into account that delays in sanction of prosecution of public servants, the GoM says that it was imperative that sanction should be decided expeditiously and within the prescribed time-frame of three months.