Odisha Civil Services (CCA) Rules, 1962 - Complete Version & Analysis

Odisha Civil Services (CCA) Rules, 1962

PART I – GENERAL

1. Short Title and Commencement

(a) These rules may be called the Odisha Civil Services (Classification, Control and Appeal) Rules, 1962.

(b) They shall come into force at once.

2. Definitions

Appointing Authority: The authority empowered to make appointments to the relevant service/post.
Commission: Odisha Public Service Commission.
Disciplinary Authority: The authority competent to impose penalties under these rules.
Government: The Government of Odisha.
Government Servant: A person holding a civil post under the State including those on deputation.
Schedule: The schedule attached to these rules.
Secretary: Includes Secretary, Special Secretary, Additional Secretary, and Joint Secretary in independent charge.
Service: A civil service of the State.

3. Application

These rules apply to all Government servants except:

Persons in casual employment
Persons subject to discharge on less than one month's notice
Persons governed by special laws
Members of the All India Services

4. Special Provision by Agreement

Special provisions may be made by agreement, with prior approval of the Governor if the appointing authority is not the Governor.

5. Protection of Rights and Privileges

Nothing in these rules shall deprive a Government servant of any legal or contractual rights/privileges.

PART II – CLASSIFICATION

6. Classification of services

The Civil Services of the State shall be classified as follows –

State Civil Services, Group-A
State Civil Services, Group-B
State Civil Services, Group-C

If a service consists of more than one grade, the different grades may be included in different Groups.

7. Constitution of State Civil Services

The State Civil Services, Group-A, Group-B or Group-C shall consist of such Services as specified by a general or special order of the Governor in this behalf and shall consist of such grades and such posts as may be created in each such Service from time to time:

Provided that if, after the issue of the order of the Governor, any new State Civil Service is constituted it shall, till it is classified by another order of the Governor, be deemed to be a State Civil Service of the Class to which another classified State Civil Service carrying a comparable scale of pay belongs.

8. Classification of posts

Civil Posts under the State other than those ordinarily held by persons to whom these rules do not apply or included in any State Civil Service shall by a general or special order of the Governor, issued in this behalf, be classified as follows –
1. State Civil Posts, Group-A
2. State Civil Posts, Group-B
3. State Civil Posts, Group-C
4. State Civil Posts, Group-D
Any order made by the competent authority and in force immediately before the commencement of these rules relating to classification of civil posts under the State shall continue to be in force until altered, rescinded or amended by an order of Governor under sub-rule (1).
If any Civil post under the State has not been classified by an order of the Governor and a question as to its classification arises, the decision thereon of the appropriate department of Government after taking into account the class to which another Civil Post carrying a comparable scale of pay belongs, shall be final.

8-A. Reference to State Civil Services and State Civil Posts

All references to State Civil Services/State Civil Posts, Class-I, Class-II, Class-III and Class-IV in all Rules, Orders, Schedules, Notifications, Regulations, Instructions in force immediately before the commencement of these rules shall be construed as references to State Civil Services/State Civil Posts, Group-A, Group-B, Group-C and Group-D as the case may be and any reference to “class or classes” therein in this context shall be construed as reference to “Group or Groups” as the case may be.

9. General State Service

State Civil Posts of any class, not included in any other State Civil Service, shall be deemed to be included in the General State Service of the corresponding class and a Government servant appointed to any such post shall be deemed to be a member of that service unless he is already a member of any other State Civil Service of the same class.

PART III – APPOINTING AUTHORITIES

10. Appointment to Group-A Services and Posts

All appointments to State Civil Services, Group-A and State Civil Post, Group-A, shall be made by the Governor:

Provided that the Governor may, by a general or special order and subject to such conditions as he may specify, delegate to any other authority the power to make such appointment.

11. Appointments to other service and posts

All appointments to State Civil Services (other than State Civil Services, Group-A and General State Services) shall be made by the authorities specified in this behalf in the Schedule.
All appointments to State Civil Posts, Group-B, Group-C and Group-D included in the General State Services shall be made by the authorities specified in that behalf by a general or special order of the Governor or, where no such order has been made, by the authorities specified in the Schedule in this behalf.

PART IV – SUSPENSION

12. Suspension

The appointing authority or any authority to which it is subordinate or any authority empowered by the Governor or the appointing authority in that behalf may place a Government servant under suspension –
1. where a disciplinary proceeding against him is contemplated or is pending, or
2. where a case against him in respect of any criminal offence is under investigation or trial.
A Government servant who is detained in custody whether on a criminal charge or otherwise, for a period exceeding forty-eight hours shall be deemed to have been suspended with effect from the date of detention by an order of the appointing authority and shall remain under suspension until further orders.
Where a penalty of dismissal, removal or compulsory retirement from service imposed upon a Government servant under suspension is set aside in appeal or on review under these rules and the case is remitted for further inquiry or action or with any other directions, the order of his suspension shall be deemed to have continued in force on and from the date of the original order of dismissal, removal or compulsory retirement and shall remain in force until further orders.
Where penalty of dismissal, removal or compulsory retirement from service imposed upon a Government servant is set aside or declared or rendered void in consequence of or by decision of a court of law and disciplinary authority, on a consideration of the circumstances of the case decides to hold a further inquiry against him on the allegation on which the penalty of dismissal, removal or compulsory retirement was originally imposed, the Government servant shall be deemed to have been placed under suspension by the appointing authority from the date of the original orders of dismissal, removal or compulsory retirement and shall continue to remain under suspension until further orders.
An order of suspension made or deemed to have been made under this rule may, at any time, be revoked by the authority which made or is deemed to have made the order or by any authority to which that authority is subordinate.
The disciplinary authority, while passing the final order of punishment or of release in the disciplinary proceedings against the Government servant, shall give directions about the treatment of the period of suspension, which is passed not as a measure of substantive punishment but as suspension pending inquiry, and indicate whether the suspension would be a punishment or not.

PART V – DISCIPLINE

13. Nature of penalties

The following penalties may, for good and sufficient reasons and as hereinafter provided, be imposed on a Government servant, namely:–

Fine;
Censure;
Withholding of increments (without cumulative effect);
Withholding of promotion;
Recovery from pay of the whole, or part of any pecuniary loss caused to Government, or to a company, association or body of individuals, whether incorporated or not, which is wholly or substantially owned or controlled by Government, or to a local authority set up by an Act of Parliament or of the Legislature of State, by negligence or breach of orders;
Suspension;
Reduction to a lower service, grade or post or to a lower time-scale or to a lower stage in a time-scale;
Withholding of increments (with cumulative effect);
Compulsory retirement;
Removal from service which shall not be disqualification for future employment; and
Dismissal from service which shall ordinarily be a disqualification for future employment:

Provided that the penalty of fine shall be imposed only on Group-D Government servants.

Explanation – The following shall not amount to a penalty within the meaning of this rule:–

Withholding of increments of a Government servant for failure to pass a departmental examination in accordance with the rules or orders governing the service or post or the terms of his appointment;
Stoppage of a Government servant at the efficiency bar in the time-scale on the ground of his unfitness to cross the bar;
Non-promotion, whether in a substantive or officiating capacity, of a Government servant after consideration of his case, to a service, grade or post for promotion to which he is eligible;
Reversion to a lower service, grade or post of a Government servant officiating in a higher service, grade or post on the ground that he is considered, after trial, to be unsuitable for such higher service, grade or post, or on administrative grounds unconnected with his conduct;
Reversion to his permanent service, grade or post of a Government servant appointed on probation to another service, grade or post during or at the end of the period of probation in accordance with the terms of his appointment or the rules and orders governing probation;
Replacement of the service of a Government servant whose services have been borrowed from the Central or a State Government or an authority under the control of the Central or a State Government at the disposal of the authority which had lent his services;
Compulsory retirement of a Government servant in accordance with the provisions relating to his superannuation or retirement;
Termination of the services:
1. of a Government servant appointed on probation during or at the end of the period of probation in accordance with the terms of his appointment or the rules and orders governing probation; or
2. of a temporary Government servant in accordance with the terms of his appointment; or
3. of a Government servant employed under an agreement in accordance with the terms of such agreement.

14. Disciplinary Authorities

The Governor may impose any of the penalties specified in rule 13 on any Government servant.
Without prejudice to the provisions of sub-rule (4), any of the penalties specified in rule 13 may be imposed on a member of a Civil Service or a person appointed to a Civil post by the appointing authority or the authority specified in Schedule or by any other authority empowered in this behalf by a general or special order of the Governor.
Subject to the provisions of sub-rule (4), the power to impose any of the penalties specified in rule 13 may also be exercised in the case of a member of a Civil Service, Class III or Civil Service, Class IV –
1. if he is Serving in a Department of the Government, by the Secretary to the Government of Odisha in that Department;
2. if he is serving in any other office, by the head of that office, except where the head of that office is lower in rank than the authority competent to impose the penalty under sub-rule (2).
Notwithstanding anything contained in this rule –
1. no penalty specified in Clauses (vi) to (ix) of rule 13 shall be imposed by any authority lower than the appointing authority;
2. where a Government servant, who is a member of a Service or is substantively appointed to any Civil Post, is temporarily appointed to any other service or post and the authority which would have been competent under sub-rule (2) to impose upon him any of the penalties specified in Clauses (vi) to (ix) of rule 13 had he not been so appointed to such other service or post is not subordinate to the authority competent to impose any of the said penalties after such appointment, the latter authority shall not impose any such penalty except after consultation with the former authority.

15. Procedure for imposing major penalties

No order imposing on a Government servant any of the penalties specified in clauses (vi) to (xi) of rule 13 shall be passed except after an inquiry held, as far as may be, in the manner provided in this rule and rule 16 or in the manner laid down in the Public Servants (Inquiries) Act, 1850 (Act 37 of 1850).

16. Procedure for imposing minor penalties

Subject to the provisions of sub-rule (2) of rule 14, no order imposing any of the penalties specified in clauses (i) to (v) of rule 13 shall be passed except after the Government servant is informed in writing of the proposal to take action against him and of the allegations on which it is proposed to be taken and is given an opportunity to make any representation he may wish to make:

Provided that the representation, if any, submitted by the Government servant under this sub-rule shall be duly taken into consideration before passing orders.

17. Communication of orders

Orders made by the disciplinary authority shall be communicated to the Government servant who shall also be supplied with a copy of the report of the inquiry, if any, held by that authority and a copy of his representation, if any, and the reasons recorded by the disciplinary authority.

18. Common proceedings

Where two or more Government servants are concerned in any case, the Governor or any other authority competent to impose the penalty of dismissal from service on all such Government servants may make an order directing that disciplinary proceedings against all of them may be taken in a common proceeding and may specify the authority which may function as the disciplinary authority for the purpose of such common proceedings.

19. Special procedure in certain cases

Notwithstanding anything contained in these rules –

where a penalty is imposed on a Government servant on the ground of conduct which has led to his conviction on a criminal charge; or
where the authority competent to impose the penalty is satisfied, for reasons to be recorded in writing, that it is not reasonably practicable to hold an inquiry in the manner provided in these rules; or
where the Governor is satisfied that in the interest of the security of the State it is not expedient to hold any inquiry in the manner provided in these rules,

the authority competent to impose the penalty may consider the circumstances of the case and pass such orders thereon as it deems fit:

Provided that the Commission shall be consulted, where such consultation is necessary, on the circumstances of the case before passing such orders.

20. Provisions regarding officers lent to other Governments or borrowed from other Governments

Where the services of a Government servant are lent by one department to another department or to any other Government or authority, the borrowing authority shall have the powers of the appointing authority for the purpose of suspension and for disciplinary proceedings.
Where the borrowing authority proposes to take disciplinary action against the Government servant, it shall consult the lending authority before final orders are passed.
The lending authority shall be informed of the final orders passed in all such cases.

21. Provisions regarding officers on foreign service

Where the services of a Government servant are placed at the disposal of a company, corporation or other organization which is not a Government, the borrowing organization shall have no power to take disciplinary action unless such power is expressly conferred by the Government.

PART VI – APPEALS

22. Orders against which no appeal lies

No appeal shall lie against –

any order made by the Governor; or
any order of an interlocutory nature or of the nature of step-in-aid to the final disposal of a disciplinary proceeding other than an order of suspension; or
any order passed by an Inquiry Officer in the course of an inquiry under Rule 15.

23. Orders against which appeal lies

Subject to the provisions of Rule 22, a Government servant may prefer an appeal against all or any of the following orders, namely:–

an order of suspension made or deemed to have been made under Rule 12;
an order imposing any of the penalties specified in Rule 13 whether made by the disciplinary authority or by any appellate or reviewing authority;
an order enhancing any penalty imposed under Rule 13;
an order which –
1. denies or varies to his disadvantage his pay, allowances, pension or other conditions of service as regulated by rules or by agreement; or
2. interprets to his disadvantage the provisions of any such rule or agreement; or
an order –
1. stopping him at the efficiency bar in the time-scale of pay on the ground of his unfitness to cross the bar,
2. reverting him while officiating in a higher service, grade or post to a lower service, grade or post, otherwise than as a penalty,
3. reducing or withholding the pension or denying the maximum pension admissible to him under the rules,
4. determining the subsistence and other allowances to be paid to him for the period of suspension or for the period during which he is deemed to be under suspension or for any portion thereof,
5. determining his pay and allowances –
  1. for the period of suspension, or
  2. for the period from the date of his dismissal, removal or compulsory retirement from service to the date of his reinstatement, or
6. determining whether or not the period from the date of his suspension to the date of reinstatement shall be treated as a period spent on duty for any purpose.

24. Appellate Authorities

A Government servant, including a person who has ceased to be in Government service, may prefer an appeal against an order specified in Rule 23 to the authority specified in this behalf in the Schedule or, where no such authority is specified –
1. where such order is made by an authority subordinate to the appointing authority, to the appointing authority; and
2. where such order is made by any other authority, to the Government.
Notwithstanding anything contained in sub-rule (1), where the person who made the order appealed against becomes, by virtue of his subsequent appointment or otherwise, the appellate authority in respect of the appeal, an appeal shall lie to the authority to which such person is immediately subordinate.

25. Period of limitation for appeals

No appeal under these rules shall be entertained unless it is submitted within a period of forty-five days from the date on which a copy of the order appealed against is delivered to the appellant:
Provided that the appellate authority may entertain the appeal after the expiry of the said period, if it is satisfied that the appellant had sufficient cause for not submitting the appeal in time.

26. Form and contents of appeal

Every person preferring an appeal shall do so separately and in his own name and the appeal shall be addressed to the appellate authority concerned and shall contain all material statements and arguments relied on by the appellant and shall not contain any disrespectful or improper language.

27. Submission of appeal

Every appeal shall be submitted through the authority which made the order appealed against. The authority shall forward the appeal with its comments to the appellate authority without delay.

28. Consideration of appeal

The appellate authority shall consider –
1. whether the procedure prescribed in these rules has been complied with;
2. whether the findings are justified; and
3. whether the penalty imposed is excessive, adequate or inadequate;
and pass orders –
1. confirming, enhancing, reducing or setting aside the penalty; or
2. remitting the case to the authority which imposed the penalty or to any other authority with such direction as it may deem fit in the circumstances of the case:
Provided that –
1. if the enhanced penalty which the appellate authority proposes to impose is one of the penalties specified in clauses (vi) to (xi) of Rule 13 and an inquiry under Rule 15 has not already been held in the case, the appellate authority shall, subject to the provisions of Rule 19, itself hold such inquiry or direct that such inquiry be held in accordance with the provisions of Rule 15 and thereafter on a consideration of the proceedings of such inquiry make such orders as it may deem fit;
2. if the appellate authority decides to enhance the penalty but an inquiry has already been held in accordance with the provisions of Rule 15, the appellate authority shall make such orders as it may deem fit; and
3. no order imposing an enhanced penalty shall be made in any other case unless the appellant has been given a reasonable opportunity as far as may be in accordance with the provisions of Rule 15 of making a representation against such enhanced penalty.

PART VII – REVIEW

29. Review

Notwithstanding anything contained in these rules –
1. the Governor; or
2. the head of a department directly under the Government, in the case of a Government servant serving in a department or office (not being the Secretariat) under the control of such head of a department; or
3. the appellate authority, within six months of the date of the order proposed to be reviewed,
may at any time, either on his or its own motion or otherwise call for the records of any inquiry and review any order made under these rules or under the rules repealed by Rule 37, from which an appeal is allowed, but from which no appeal has been preferred, or from which no appeal is allowed, and may –
1. confirm, modify or set aside the order; or
2. impose any penalty or set aside, reduce, confirm or enhance the penalty imposed by the order; or
3. remit the case to the authority which made the order or to any other authority directing such further action or inquiry as it considers proper in the circumstances of the case:
Provided that –
1. if the enhanced penalty which the Governor, head of the department, or appellate authority, as the case may be, proposes to impose is one of the penalties specified in clauses (vi) to (xi) of Rule 13 and an inquiry under Rule 15 has not already been held in the case, he or it shall, subject to the provisions of Rule 19, direct that such inquiry be held and thereafter consider the record of the inquiry and pass such orders as he or it may deem proper;
2. if the Governor, head of the department or appellate authority, as the case may be, decides to enhance the penalty but an inquiry has already been held in accordance with the provisions of Rule 15, he or it shall make such orders as he or it may deem proper; and
3. no order imposing an enhanced penalty shall be made in any other case unless the Government servant concerned has been given a reasonable opportunity, as far as may be in accordance with the provisions of Rule 15, of making a representation against the penalty proposed.
No proceeding for review shall be commenced until after –
1. the expiry of the period of limitation for an appeal; or
2. the disposal of the appeal, where any such appeal has been preferred.
Where it is proposed to hold an inquiry against the Government servant under this rule and Rule 15 has not been applied to the case, the procedure laid down in Rule 15 shall be followed as far as applicable.

PART VIII – MISCELLANEOUS

30. Service of orders, notices, etc.

Every order, notice and other process made or issued under these rules shall be served in person on the Government servant concerned or communicated to him by registered post at his last known address.

31. Power to relax time-limit and to condone delay

Save as otherwise expressly provided in these rules, the authority competent under these rules to make any order may, for good and sufficient reasons or if sufficient cause is shown, extend the time specified in these rules for anything required to be done under these rules or condone any delay.

32. Interpretation

If any question arises relating to the interpretation of these rules, it shall be referred to the Government whose decision thereon shall be final.

33. Repeal and savings

The Odisha Civil Services (Classification, Control and Appeal) Rules, 1930 and all other rules corresponding to these rules in force immediately before the commencement of these rules are hereby repealed:
Provided that –
1. such repeal shall not affect the previous operation of the said rules or anything duly done or suffered thereunder;
2. any appeal, review or proceeding pending at the commencement of these rules shall be disposed of in accordance with the provisions of the said rules as if these rules had not been made;
3. any order made or action taken under the said rules shall be deemed to have been made or taken under the corresponding provisions of these rules.