Saturday, July 2, 2011

Supply of copies of documents to the delinquent official.

O.M.No: GAD 14 OSR 61, dated 13th November 1961.
Sub:- Supply of copies of documents to the delinquent official.

Doubts often arise whether a particular document or set of documents asked for by a Government servant in a Departmental enquiry may be made available to him or not. The question of the extent of access to official records to which a Government servant is entitled under sub-rule (3) of Rule 11 of the Mysore Civil Services (Classification, Control and Appeal) Rules, 1957 has been examined in the light of the Official Memorandum issued by the Government of India (Ministry of Home Affairs No.F-30-5-61-AVD dated 25th August 1961) and the following clarifications are issued regarding the access to and/or supply of copies of the following documents to a Government servant:-
(1) Documents to which reference has been made in the statement of allegations;
A list of documents which are proposed to be relied upon to prove the charge and the facts stated in the statement of allegations should be drawn up and supplied to the officer along with the charge sheet or as soon thereafter as possible, and the officer be permitted to inspect the documents mentioned in the list, if he so desires.
(2) Documents and records not so referred to in the statement of allegations but which the Government servant concerned considers are relevant for the purpose of his defence;
Such a request should ordinarily be acceded to. But it is open to the Government to deny inspection of these documents if in its opinion such records are not relevant to the defence of the case or it is not desirable in public interest to permit inspections. Where inspections or supply of copies of documents is denied, an order should be recorded in that behalf assigning reasons for the denial.
(3) Statements of witnesses recorded in the course of (a) preliminary enquiry conducted by the Department or (b) investigation made by the Police;
These statements can be used only for purposes of cross examination and the Government servant is called upon to discredit only those witnesses relied upon by the prosecution and as such the Government servant may be allowed access to the statements only of those witnesses who are proposed to be examined in proof of the charges or the facts stated in the statement of allegations, the demand for copies however being made when the witnesses are called for examination at the time of oral enquiry. However if the Government servant applies for copies of these statements the same may be furnished sometime prior to the cross-examination of the witnesses.
(4) Reports submitted to Government or other competent authority including the disciplinary authority by (a) an officer appointed to hold a preliminary inquiry to ascertain facts, (b) by the Police after investigation;
Such reports other than those referred to in clause (a) of sub-section (1) of Section 173 of the Code of Criminal Procedure, 1898 are usually confidential and intended only to satisfy the competent authority whether further action is called for, and as such it is not necessary to permit the Government servant to inspect these reports. Any reference to
such reports in the statement of allegations should be avoided as otherwise it would not be possible to deny access to these reports if required.
The procedure with regard to supply of copies and documents has been indicated in O.M.No.GAD 8 OSR 59, dated 18th May 1959. It is not ordinarily necessary to supply copies of the various documents and it is sufficient if the Government servant is given such access as is permitted under the rules. A Government servant should not however be permitted to take photostat copies of the documents.

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