Travel Allowance Rule - Journeys to attend court of law (IRCE- 1667)
1. The following provisions apply to a railway servant who is summoned to give evidence: -
(i) In a criminal case, a trial before a Court martial, a civil suit, or proceedings to which Government is a party or a departmental enquiry held by a properly constituted authority in the Indian Union; or
(ii) Before a court in a foreign territory
Provided that the facts as to which he is to give evidence have come to his knowledge in the discharge of his public duties:
(a) He may draw travelling allowance as for a journey on tour attaching to his TA Bill a certificate of attendance given by the Court or other authority which summoned him.
(b) When he draws such travelling allowance he may not accept any payment of his expenses from the Court or authority. Any fees which may be deposited in the Court for the travelling and subsistence allowance of the witness must be credited to the Railway Revenues.
(c) If the Court in which he gives evidence is situated within 8 kms. of his headquarters, and no traveling allowance, is, therefore, admissible to him for the journey, he may, if he be not in receipt of permanent travelling allowance, accept such payment of actual travelling expenses as the Court may make.
NOTE:- A railway servant summoned to give evidence while on leave is entitled to travelling allowance under these Rules from and to the place from which he is summoned as if he were on duty.
Government of India’s decisions
(i) Journeys connected with police inquiries-Travelling allowance is admissible to an Officer proceeding to a police station to lodge a complaint or give information of an offence, but under the orders of the Government of India in the Home Department No1163 dated the 14th September, 1874, no allowance is admissible to an officer summoned by a police officer to give evidence before him.
(G.I.F. & C.D. No.6170-P dated the 19th December, 1894.)
(ii) The question of admissibility of travelling allowance to the officials of a department who are required by their superior officer to proceed from one station to another to appear before police officers or to accompany them to another station, has for some time past, been under the consideration of the Government of India, and it has been decided that whether the employee’s presence is required to give a statement or to assist generally in the police investigation, it is within the discretion of his superior officer who orders the Government servant to undertake the journey to grant travelling allowance for the journey as having been performed on duty. It has been held that this rule provides, merely for cases in which the court or other authority has the power of paying witnesses` expenses. It is not the intention of the rules to forbid the grant of travelling allowance to a Government servant attending, under proper orders, inquiry whether police or departmental.
(G.I.F.D. U.O.No. 6847-CSR dt. 15th December,1926.)
(iii) Where a railway servant whether under suspension or not, performs journey to attend police/special Police Establishment Enquiry in connection with a case in which he is suspected to be involved, travelling allowance as for a journey on tour may be allowed for such journeys provided that they are performed under the direction of, or with the approval of, the Head of the Office in which he is for the time being employed, or was employed, before suspension.
(iv) Where a railway servant undertakes journey during suspension for appearing in a Court of Law as an accused and is later on acquitted by the Court and reinstated in service or would have been reinstated in service but for death or his having attained the age of compulsory retirement or being allowed to retire voluntarily, traveling allowance as on tour based on the grade to which the railway servant belonged before suspension may be reimbursed to him provided the legal expenses incurred by him in defending such proceedings are reimbursed in full or in part under Article 320 (3) (d) of the Constitution.
(v) Traveling Allowance in respect of following types of cases may be granted as indicated below: -
(a) Proceeding initiated by Government in respect of matters connected with the official duties or position of the railway servant. In respect of such cases, travelling allowance may be granted as in Government of India’s Decision No. (iv) above.
(b) Proceedings in respect of matters not connected with official duties or position of the railway servant: -
No Travelling Allowance is admissible in such cases
(c) Proceedings instituted by a private party against a railway servant in respect of matters connected with his official duties or position.
(i) If the Railway Administration on consideration of the facts and circumstances of the case consider that it will be in public interest that the Administration should themselves undertake the defence of the railway servant in such proceedings and if the railway servant agrees to such a course, the railway servant will be paid travelling allowance as for a journey on tour.
(ii) If the Railway servant purposes to conduct his defence in such proceedings himself, travelling allowance may be paid on the lines indicated in sub-rule (iv) above subject to the further condition that the travelling expenses are not decreed by the court of Law as payable by the plaintiff.
(d) Proceedings instituted by a Railway servant on his being required by Government to vindicate his official conduct. In respect of such cases, travelling allowance may be granted to the railway servant on the lines indicated in Government of India’s Decision No. (iv) above.
(e) Proceeding instituted by a railway servant suo moto with the previous sanction of the Government to vindicate his conduct arising out of or connected with his official duties or position. In respect of such cases, no travelling allowance is admissible.
(IRCE- 1668) (1) Every person, whether he is a Railway servant, Central or State Govt. servant or not, who is called to give evidence in a departmental inquiry by, either the Railway administration or the Railway servant against whom the inquiry is being held, shall be entitled to payment of travelling and other expenses as laid down below.
(2) Where the witness is a railway servant, he shall be entitled to receive, in respect of the attendance before the authority holding the departmental inquiry from the department or office under which he is serving for the time being, payment of travelling allowance as on tour.
(3) (i) Where the railway servant is called in the departmental inquiry to give evidence as to facts which have come to his knowledge in the discharge of his public duties, the minimum time required to be spent by him on the journey to and from the place where the inquiry is held and the days on which he is required to remain present before the authority holding the inquiry, shall be treated as duty.
(ii) Provided that if the Railway servant is on leave, the entire time spent shall be treated as a part of the leave and he shall not be deemed to have been recalled to duty.
(iii) Where a railway servant is called by any authority holding the departmental inquiry to give evidence as to facts which have come to his knowledge at a time when he was not in railway service, he may be paid travelling allowance as provided in clause (2) above.
(4) Where the witness is Central Govt./State Govt. servant, he shall be entitled to receive, in respect of the attendance before the authority holding the departmental inquiry, from the Central/State Govt. such travelling allowance and/or daily allowance as may be admissible to him under the rules applicable to him in that behalf in respect of a journey undertaken on tour and the amount so paid shall be the liability of the Railway administration. The Central/State Govt. will, however, make the necessary payments and shall raise a debit in respect thereof against the Railway administration.
(5) Where a person who has been a Railway servant but has ceased to be so, is called to give evidence as to facts which might or might not have come to his knowledge in the discharge of his duties, or a person who is not a servant of the Union, is called to give evidence before any authority holding a departmental enquiry, such a person shall be entitled to claim from the Ministry or Department or office under whom the railway servant against whom the inquiry is being held is for the time being serving, travelling allowance under Rule 1696.
(6) The officer or the Board holding the inquiry shall furnish a certificate in the following Form to every person appearing before him or to give evidence.
FORM
This is to certify that Shri (Name, designation, office, etc.) appeared before me as a witness on ................. at (place) ................. in the departmental inquiry against Shri (Name, designation, etc.) and was discharged on............ at (time)..........
Nothing has been paid to him on account of his travelling and other expenses.
(SIGNATURE)
Disciplinary Authority/Board of
Inquiry-Inquiry Officer.
Copy forwarded for information to the Ministry/Department of Secretary to the Govt. of (Name of State Government) Department.
(7) The foregoing instructions shall also apply to a person assisting the Railway servant against whom the inquiry is held in presenting his case. Such a person shall be granted a certificate in the following form by the authority holding the departmental inquiry.
FORM
This is to certify that Shri (Name, designation, office, etc.) attended the proceedings in the departmental inquiry against Shri (Name designation, etc.) to assist the said designation, etc. and was discharged on ................at (time).......
Nothing has been paid to him on account of his travelling and other expenses.
(SIGNATURE)
Disciplinary Authority/Board of
Inquiry/Inquiring Officer/Appellate authority
Copy forwarded for information to the Ministry/Department of..................
(IRCE- 1669). In cases where railway servants whether on duty or on leave or under suspension, undertake journeys to an outstation to persue official records for the preparation of their defence in connection with the disciplinary proceedings instituted against them, travelling allowance as on tour and daily allowance (restricted to a maximum of three days only) will be allowed from the headquarters of the railway servant or from any other places where the railway servant may be spending his leave or where the suspended officer has been permitted on his request to reside, but not exceeding what would be admissible, had the journey been undertaken from the headquarters of the railway servant subject to the following further condition:-
(i) The disciplinary authority competent to permit inspection of documents/the Inquiring authority certifies that the official records to be consulted are relevant and essential for the preparation of the defence statement. Such a certificate is necessary only in case where the accused railway servant asks for access to the documents which are not mentioned in the list of documents proposed to be relied upon by the Railway Administration.
(ii) the competent authority certifies that the original records could not be sent to the Headquarters station of the railway servant or the bulk of the documents ruled out the possibility of copies being made out and sent:
(iii) the Head of office under whose administrative control the railway servant is, certifies that the journey was performed with his approval; and
(iv) in case of officers not under suspension at the time of undertaking the journey, the period spent in transit to and fro and the minimum period of stay required at the place where the official records are made available for perusal, should be treated as duty or leave according as the officer is on duty or on leave at that time, and in case of officers under suspension who are subsequently reinstated in service, the period will be treated as duty, leave or otherwise in accordance with the orders passed by the competent authority under Rule 1345 (i) RII.
(IRCE- 1670) A railway servant summoned to give evidence in circumstances other than those described in Rule 1663 or to serve as assessor or juror in a court of law, is not entitled, by reason of his position as a Government servant, to any payment other than those admissible by the rules of the court. If the court pays him any sum as subsistence allowance or compensation apart from payment for travelling expenses, he must credit that sum to railway revenues before drawing full pay for the day or days of absence.
NOTE: - This period spent by railway servant in attending court as juror and assessor with the permission of their respective Heads of Department, should be treated as special casual leave, which should not be debited to their casual leave accounts and no extra payment, except those admissible under these rules, should be made to them for such period.
Government of India’s Orders
The question has arisen whether an employee who is subject to the Payment of Wages Act, 1936 can legally pay to the department fees or sums received by him from court as subsistence allowance or compensation. Such payment will amount to a deduction from wages within the meaning of the explanation to sub-section (i) to Section 7 of the payment of Wages Act, 1936 and is thus inadmissible under the provision to that Section. The employee, therefore, cannot legally be asked to credit to railway the subsistence allowance granted to him by the court. This difficulty can be solved by the issue of rules by the High Court to the effect that in the case of Government servant who are subject to the payment of Wages Act, 1936, such sums should be deposited by the court themselves in the treasury to the credit of the railway or office concerned.
(IRCE- 1671) A railway servant who is summoned to give evidence of facts which came to his knowledge in the discharge of his duties or to produce official documents in a civil suit in which Government is not a party, will be paid travelling expenses etc. by the court at the rates admissible to the railway servant for a journey on tour. In order to enable the court to assess the amount admissible to him the railway servant should carry to the court a certificate duly signed by the Controlling Officer of the railway servant showing the rate of travelling and daily allowance admissible to him for a journey on tour. If the railway servant is his own Controlling Officer, the certificate will be signed by him as such.
NOTE. --These orders do not apply in respect of attendance at courts in the West Bengal state.
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