grant of NOC for passport for Govt employee facing disciplinary proceedings

[sanu sahni]

can a department concern issue a NOC cetificate to government employee for obtaining passport if a dicipilinary proceeding is pending against him? Sir, also mention any case law of high court or supreme court in favour of delinquent ,if possible.

[Dr. Ashok Dhamija]

The Government of India has recently (last month) issued new guidelines on the issue of giving vigilance clearance for obtaining passport, including when a disciplinary proceeding is pending. These guidelines have been issued by O.M. F. No. 11012/7/2017-Estt.A-III dated 28^th March 2018, and can be seen online here. As per these guidelines, vigilance clearance for the passport issuance can be withheld only under the following circumstances:

(i) The officer is under suspension;

(ii) A charge sheet has been issued against the officer in a disciplinary proceeding and the proceeding is pending.

(iii) Charge sheet has been filed in a Court by the investigating Agency in a criminal case and the case is pending.

(iv) Sanction for investigation or prosecution has been granted by the Competent Authority in a case under the PC Act or any other criminal matter.

(v) An FIR has been filed or a case has been registered by any Government entity against the officer, after a preliminary fact finding inquiry.

(vi) The officer is involved in a trap/ raid case on charges of corruption and investigation is pending.

Likewise, in 2015, new guidelines were issued by the Ministry of External Affairs vide O.M. No. VI/401/01/05/2014 dated 26^th May 2015 (see online here) as per which a government servant can use the new feature of giving a prior intimation to the controlling authority before filing a passport application, in which case NOC of employer may not be necessary; however, if the controlling authority / employer has any objection that may be considered by the passport authority while considering the passport application. Further, police verification may still be needed.

     

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Dr. Ashok Dhamija is a New Delhi based Supreme Court Advocate and author of law books. Read more about him by clicking here. List of his Forum Replies. List of his other articles. List of his Quora Answers. List of his YouTube Videos.

[sanu sahni]

Thank you so much sir.One more clarification, the delinquent is employee of government of Bihar.
1.Will the recent guidelines be applied on him?
1.Can you please provide us any judicial precedent which says that controlling authority can’t deny issuance of Noc even if employee is facing a disciplinary proceeding.

[Dr. Ashok Dhamija]

Ministry of external affairs guidelines (quoted in my main answer) may apply to you in your capacity as Bihar Government employee.

DOPT guidelines are basically for the Central Government employees. You will have to check the relevant guidelines for Bihar Government employees from the concerned Government.

Above guidelines are clear that NOC may be withheld if an employee of central government is facing a disciplinary proceedings. It is a discretion, which you can challenge in court, if it not exercised by due application of mind, or relevant considerations have not been kept in mind, or extraneous considerations were taken in to account, or if it was exercised in a mala fide manner, etc.

But, the fact remains that this discretion is exercised in view of the government employee being subject to the conduct rules, and also because the government has the power to refuse leave or to refuse permission to go abroad (sometimes, even to leave headquarters).     

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Dr. Ashok Dhamija is a New Delhi based Supreme Court Advocate and author of law books. Read more about him by clicking here. List of his Forum Replies. List of his other articles. List of his Quora Answers. List of his YouTube Videos.

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