Haryana tightens rules for inquiring public servants under anti-corruption law

The new directions, issued by the state vigilance department, are aimed at bringing uniformity and accountability and define how information/complaints received by police or vigilance agencies should be processed.

The Haryana government on Thursday issued a fresh set of Standard Operating Procedures (SOPs) to regulate how enquiries and investigations against public servants are initiated under section 17A of the Prevention of Corruption Act, 1988.

The provision was designed to protect honest officers from motivated probes, they added. (Shutterstock)

The new directions, issued by the state vigilance department, are aimed at bringing uniformity and accountability and define how information/complaints received by police or vigilance agencies should be processed in a stage-wise manner before seeking approval under section 17A.

The order clarified that the revised SOPs will apply not only to fresh complaints but also to pending cases in which prior approval under Section 17A has not yet been granted. This means that ongoing enquiries which are still at the approval stage will now be examined under the new, tighter procedure, ensuring uniformity across old and new cases.

The provision was designed to protect honest officers from motivated probes, they added.

The government has adopted the detailed SOPs, earlier issued by the Union government’s department of personnel and training (DoPT), and aligned them with the state’s administrative structure, according to a notification issued on Thursday.

The SOPs specify the rank of police officers authorised to seek prior approval and lay down a single-window mechanism for submission and receipt of proposals. It also clarifies which authority will grant approval, depending on whether the public servant is employed with the Union government, the state government, or another authority competent to remove the officer from service.

Importantly, the notification reiterates that prior approval under section 17A is not required in cases where a public servant is caught red-handed in such cases.

The competent authority is required to make a decision within three months of receiving a proposal, which may be extended by one month for recorded reasons. This provision seeks to prevent prolonged delays, added officials.

The order said the new SOPs will also be applied to pending cases where approval under section 17A has not been granted.

The government has also allowed administrative departments to delegate certain procedural functions related to cases involving Class III and Class IV employees to subordinate officers. It means that routine processing—such as preliminary scrutiny of complaints, compilation of records, or forwarding files for approval—can now be handled at lower administrative levels to avoid delays. However, the final responsibility for granting or denying approval will continue to rest with the department concerned.

Officials said the move is aimed to strike a balance between safeguarding honest decision-making and ensuring that corruption allegations are examined in a fair, transparent and time-bound manner. All departments, public sector undertakings, local bodies and investigating agencies have been directed to strictly comply with the new SOPs and circulate them widely for implementation.