Now, J&K govt employees need vigilance clearance for passports

Srinagar, Sep 16: In what could spell trouble for employees involved in corruption cases, the administration of Jammu & Kashmir on Thursday made vigilance clearance mandatory for employees applying for passport.

The General Administration Department (GAD) today directed all the administrative departments/heads of departments(HODs) to mandatorily obtain the latest vigilance clearance of employees who are applying for passport in terms of office memorandum issued by the Department of Personnel and Trainings, Government of India on February 2, 2020.

The DOPT’s 2020 directive states that that vigilance clearance can be withheld if the employee is under suspension or charge sheet has been filed in a court by the investigating agency in a criminal case or after grant of sanction by the competent authority under the Prevention of Corruption Act or any other criminal matter and taken cognizance of by the court of law.

The GAD’s circular states that the passport to the citizens including government employee is issued on the basis of verification carried out by the Criminal Investigation Department (CID).

The current system, according to the circular, lacks any mechanism to deny the passport to employees who are either under suspension or facing departmental inquiry or prosecution on account of serious charges.

“Currently, a government employee is only required to inform his employer for applying for passport,” the circular states.

The circular states that Anti- Corruption Bureau (ACB) J&K has brought into the notice of the government that the present mechanism for issuance of passport to government employees without obtaining requisite vigilance clearance results in the issuance of passport to those employees against whom vigilance cases are pending.

It has underlined that there “is an urgent necessity to instruct all the departments to issue the NOC for issuance of passport on the basis of vigilance clearance only”. —(KNO)