Under the rules applicable to the Central Government employees, under the provisions of the Fundamental Rules – FR 53, a Government servant under suspension is not paid any pay but is allowed a subsistence allowance at an amount equivalent to the leave salary which the Government servant would have drawn if he had been on leave on half average pay or half pay and in addition dearness allowance, if admissible on the basis of such leave salary. This means that the subsistence allowance is paid at the rate of 50%.
There are instructions in the same FR 53, that the subsistence allowance is required to be reviewed by the competent authority after 3 months of the suspension, and may be increased by up to 50% of the allowance during the first 3 months (which means that now it can become 75%) or reduced by up to 50 % of the allowance during the first 3 months (which means now it can become 25%).
Thus, what is required under the above rule is that a review must be conducted by the competent authority on completion of 3 months under suspension. However, it is not necessary that the subsistence allowance will always be increased after such review. It may be increased as above or may be kept intact at 50% or may even be reduced, depending upon facts and circumstances of the case (such as, for example, whether the suspended government servant is cooperating with the inquiry). Whatever may be the result of the review, it is mandatory to conduct the review even if the subsistence allowance is not changed after such review, but a formal review has to take place 3 months after the suspension and an order passed accordingly.
In your case, if no such review has been made after 3 months (you have mentioned 6 months have passed), then you can challenge the same before the Central Administrative Tribunal (CAT), or if you so wish, you may first represent to the competent authority to immediately comply with the above requirement of conducting review of the subsistence allowance after 3 months of suspension.
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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