The Department of Personnel and Training, which is part of the Ministry of Personnel, Public Grievances and Pensions, inserted this requirement as a substitute provision in rules on pension subject to future good behaviour by notifying the Central Civil Services (Pension) Amendment Rules, 2020 on Monday.
This regulatory change is likely to have an impact on retired security and intelligence professionals who write articles for newspapers and magazines or publish books on their former organisations and experiences.
The Centre has amended pension rules for civil servants, prohibiting retired officials of security and intelligence organisations from publishing anything pertaining to the organisation in which they worked, including information relating to their experience and expertise in the organisation, without permission from the organization’s head.
The Department of Personnel and Training, which is part of the Ministry of Personnel, Public Grievances and Pensions, inserted this requirement as a substitute provision in rules on pension subject to future good behaviour by notifying the Central Civil Services (Pension) Amendment Rules, 2020 on Monday.
If a pensioner disobeys the rules, his or her pension may be withheld or withdrawn. This change in laws is likely to have an impact on retired security and intelligence professionals who write about their previous organisations and experiences in newspapers and periodicals or write books about them.
The Department of Personnel and Training (DoPT) amended the Central Civil Services (Pension) Rules, 1972, to include a clause that states that upon retirement, those working in organisations listed in the RTI Act’s Second Schedule will not be allowed to publish anything related to the “domain of the organisation, including reference or information about any personnel and his designation, and expertise or knowledge gained by virtue of the organisation.”
It was specified that such a person would not be permitted to publish any “sensitive” information, and that the head of the organisation in question would determine whether the item for publication was sensitive or not, and whether it fell within the organization’s domain.
The Intelligence Bureau, Research and Analysis Wing, Directorate of Revenue Intelligence, Central Economic Intelligence Bureau, Directorate of Enforcement, Narcotics Control Bureau, Aviation Research Centre, Special Frontier Force, Border Security Force, Central Reserve Police Force, Indo-Tibetan Border Police, and Central Industrial Security are among the organisations listed in the RTI Act’s Second Schedule.
Special Branch (CID), Andaman and Nicobar, Sashastra Seema Bal (previously Special Service Bureau), Dadra and Nagar Haveli Police Department’s Branch-CID-CB, Lakshadweep Police Department’s Special Branch, Special Protection Group, Defence Research & Development Organisation, Border Road Development Board, and Financial Intelligence Unit By amending the RTI Act, the Manmohan Singh government included the CBI to this list.
On November 27, 2014, the Modi government added a few sections to Rule 3 of the civil service conduct regulations (1). “Every government employee must maintain political impartiality at all times,” according to one of them. However, this is only valid while the officer is in the military.
The Election Commission proposed a cooling-off period for retired bureaucrats who wanted to enter politics, but it was rejected in 2013.
A one-year cooling-off period applies to taking up commercial employment after retirement. Joining politics, on the other hand, is not covered by this rule. If an officer desires to work in the private sector within a year of retirement, he or she must obtain government clearance.
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