Rtd officers of impeccable integrity to probe corruption cases

Retired employees of impeccable integrity, sound mental and physical health will be engaged by the Centre for conducting inquiries against government officials accused of corruption, a move aimed at checking delay in completion of graft cases.
Such employees will be provided a honorarium ranging between Rs 30,000 to Rs 75,000, per case, in addition to transport allowance of Rs 40,000. Besides, Rs 30,000 per case will also be given to them if they are not provided with secretarial assistance by the concerned department.
"It has now been decided that panels of retired officers from the ministries or departments under government of India and public sector undertakings would be created and maintained by the respective cadre controlling authorities for conducting Departmental Inquiries against the delinquent officials," an order issued today by Department of Personnel and Training (DoPT) said.

The retired officers willing to serve as the Inquiry officer should not be more than 65 years of age as on the April 1, of the year of his or her empanelment. He or she should be in sound health--both physically and mentally and "should not be an accused officer in any pending inquiry and should be of impeccable integrity", it said.
A handsome honorarium is finalised by the government for these retired employees. While a Deputy Secretary or Director-level officer would get Rs 60,000 as honorarium for completing an inquiry within 45 days, whereas those at the level of Joint Secretary and above will get Rs 75,000 per case.

Payment will be made to the Inquiry Officer only when he or she submits the inquiry report within 90 days and the report is accepted by the Disciplinary Authority, the DoPT said.
The number of disciplinary cases assigned to an Inquiry Officer may be restricted to 20 cases in a year, with not more than four cases at a time, it said.