Rlys’ new move to drop charges pending against staff

According to a recent circular, the railway management would scrap the charges and that too with the sanction of the Railway Board (RB). The board has decided to ‘close’ all pending major and minor penalty charges if they are not ‘finalized’ by December 15, 2018.

Sudheer Kumar, principal executive director (transformation), Railway Board, in his order dated December 3, 2018 (copy available with DT Next), has instructed all GMs to review all major and minor penalty proceedings that are more than six and three months old respectively.

“All such cases should be finalized/taken to logical conclusion by December 15 by respectively disciplinary authority,” the board has said, advising them to conduct a fresh review if they were not finalized by the DA by the aforesaid cut-off date.

While the board has instructed zones to treat such pending minor penalty cases as closed, disciplinary authorities have been asked to issue ex-parte orders in major penalty cases pending for over six months if the delay were due to the charged official or process closure of the cases if the delay was not on account of the charged official.

The one-time offer of Railway Board (RB) was made owing to large number of D & AR cases pending for over six months. In fact, the senior bureaucrat of the board has admitted that on an average, about 185 cases of major penalty and 85 cases of minor penalty proceedings were pending in all zones for over six months.

However, the offer would not apply to staff facing vigilance and safety violations charges and compliance of court orders. Employees fear the order was arbitrary and more disadvantageous. A few employees in the know feared that officials might act in haste and award penalty without holding proper inquiry to avoid criticism. “Going by the board’s own admission, there are at least 185 major penalty charges in Southern Railway zone. The order was issued on December 3. How would they finalize so many charges in 12 days?” a senior chief commercial clerk requesting anonymity wondered.

“In cases where officials do not decide even after employees file their reply to charges, it will compel officials to finalize them. But, in some cases, employees might have sought documents for perusal. In such cases, the DA will blame the charged employee for delay and easily issue an ex-parte order, which will be arbitrary. Finalizing cases without giving reasonable opportunity and without meeting natural justice is condemnable,” vice president of left backed DREU (Dakshin Railway Employees Union) R Elangovan told DT Next.

The instant order would save a few employees charged in cases like muster tampering, especially in Salt Coutars where the rolls were seized, and incremental evidence found against a couple of employees, sources said.