PART VIII
REVISION AND REVIEW
29. Revision
(1) Notwithstanding anything contained in these rules-
(i) the President; or
(ii) the Comptroller and Auditor-General, in the case of a Government servant serving in the Indian Audit and Accounts Department; or
(iii) the Member (Personnel) Postal Services Board in the case of a Government servant serving in or under the Postal Services Board and Adviser (Human Resources Development), Department of Telecommunications in the case of a Government servant serving in or under the Telecommunications Board; or
(iv) the Head of a Department directly under the Central Government, in the case of a Government servant serving in a department or office (not being the Secretariat or the Posts and Telegraphs Board), under the control of such Head of a Department; or
(v) the appellate authority, within six months of the date of the order proposed to be revised or
(vi) any other authority specified in this behalf by the President by a general or special order, and within such time as may be prescribed in such general or special order;
may at any time, either on his or its own motion or otherwise call for the records of any inquiry and revise any order made under these rules or under the rules repealed by rule 34 from which an appeal is allowed, but from which no appeal has been preferred or from which no appeal is allowed, after consultation with the Commission where such consultation is necessary, and may-
(a) confirm, modify or set aside the order; or
(b) confirm, reduce, enhance or set aside the penalty imposed by the order, or impose any penalty where no penalty has been imposed; or
(c) remit the case to the authority which made the order to or any other authority directing such authority to make such further enquiry as it may consider proper in the circumstances of the case; or
(d) pass such other orders as it may deem fit:
Provided that no order imposing or enhancing any penalty shall be made by any revising authority unless the Government servant concerned has been given a reasonable opportunity of making a representation against the penalty proposed and where it is proposed to impose any of the penalties specified in clauses (v) to (ix) of rule 11 or to enhance the penalty imposed by the order sought to be revised to any of the penalties specified in those clauses, and if an inquiry under rule 14 has not already been held in the case no such penalty shall be imposed except after an inquiry in the manner laid down in rule 14 subject to the provisions of rule 19, and except after consultation with the Commission where such consultation is necessary :
Provided further that no power of revision shall be exercised by the Comptroller and Auditor-General, Member (Personnel), Postal Services Board, Adviser (Human Resources Department), Department of Telecommunications or the Head of Department, as the case may be, unless-
(i) the authority which made the order in appeal, or
(ii) the authority to which an appeal would lie, where no appeal has been preferred, is subordinate to him.
(2) No proceeding for revision shall be commenced until after-
(i) the expiry of the period of limitation for an appeal, or
(ii) the disposal of the appeal, where any such appeal has been preferred.
(3) An application for revision shall be dealt with in the same manner as if it were an appeal under these rules.
Government of India’s Instructions
(1) Procedure to be followed while proposing enhancement of the penalty already imposed on a Government servant :-
Instances have been brought to the notice of this Ministry in which when orders of punishment passed by the subordinate authorities were reviewed under Rule 29 (1) of the CCS (CCA) Rules, 1965, and a provisional conclusion reached that the penalty already imposed was not adequate, the authorities concerned set aside/cancelled the order of punishment already passed by the subordinate authorities and simultaneously served show-cause notices for the imposition of higher penalties. Thereafter, the replies of the Government servants to show-cause notices were considered and the Union Public Service Commission also consulted, wherever necessary, before the imposition of enhanced penalties.
It is clarified that in case of the kind mentioned in the preceding paragraph, it is not appropriate to set aside/cancel the penalty already imposed on the Government servants, more so when the revising authority is the President, as strictly speaking cancellation of the penalty, if done in the name of the President amounts to modification by the President of the earlier order of the subordinate authority, for which prior consultation with the Union Public Service Commission is necessary under Regulation 5 (1) (c) of the UPSC (Exemption from Consultation) Regulations, 1958. The correct procedure in such cases will, therefore, be to take action in accordance with the first proviso to Rule 29 (1) of the CCS (CCA) Rules, 1965, without cancelling/setting aside the order of the subordinate authority. It is only at the final stage when orders are issued modifying the original penalty, that it would be necessary to set aside the original order of penalty.
(G.I. MHA OM No. 39/2/68-Ests.(A) dated the 14th May, 1968).
29-A. Review
The President may, at any time, either on his own motion or otherwise review any order passed under these rules, when any new material or evidence which could not be produced or was not available at the time of passing the order under review and which has the effect of changing the nature of the case, has come, or has been brought, to his notice:
Provided that no order imposing or enhancing any penalty shall be made by the President unless the Government servant concerned has been given a reasonable opportunity of making a representation against the penalty proposed or where it is proposed to impose any of the major penalties specified in rule 11 or to enhance the minor penalty imposed by the order sought to be reviewed to any of the major penalties and if an enquiry under rule 14 has not already been held in the case, no such penalty shall be imposed except after inquiring in the manner laid down in rule 14, subject to the provisions of rule 19, and except after consultation with the Commission where such consultation is necessary.
Government of India’s Instructions
(1) President’s power of review under Rule 29 –
Attention is invited to this Department Notification of even number dated the 6th August, 1981 amending Rule 29 of the CCS (CCA) Rules, 1965, and introducing Rule 29-A therein. The amendment has been necessitated by the judgment of the Delhi High Court in the case of Shri R.K.Gupta Vs. Union of India and another (Civil Writ Petition Nos. 196 of 1978 and 322 of 1979) in which the High Court has held that under Rule 29 of the CCS (CCA) Rules, 1965 –
(1) the President has power to review any order under the CCS (CCA) Rules, 1965 including an order of exoneration, and
(2) the aforesaid power of review is in the nature of revisionary power and not in the nature of reviewing one’s own order.
The matter has been examined in consultation with the Ministry of Law who has observed that the judgment of the Delhi High Court would indicate that the President cannot exercise his revisionary powers in a case in which the power had already been exercised after full consideration of the facts and circumstances of the case. There is, however, no objection to providing for a review by the President of an order passed by him earlier in revision if some new fact or material having the nature of changing the entire complexion of the case comes to his notice later. Accordingly, Rule 29-A, has been introduced specifying the power of the President to make a review of any order passed earlier, including an order passed in revision under Rule 29, when any new fact or material which has the effect of changing the nature of the case comes to his notice. If may also be noted that while the President and other authorities enumerated in Rule 29 of the CCS (CCA) Rules, 1965 exercise the power of revision under that rule, the power of review under Rule 29-A is vested in the President only and not in any other authority. With the amendment of Rule 29 and the introduction Rule 29-A, the heading of Part VIII of the CCS (CCA) Rules, 1965 has also been appropriately changed as “Revision and Review”.
[MHA, (D/o P&AR) OM No. 11012/1/80-Ests.(A) dated the 3rd September, 1981].
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