Conduct Rule No.19: Vindication Of Acts And Character Of Railway Servant

19.  Vindication Of Acts And Character Of Railway Servants:-

(1)   No railway servant shall, except with the previous sanction of the Government, have recourse to any Court or to the Press for the vindication of any official act which has been subject matter of adverse criticism or an attack of a defamatory character.

Provided that if no such sanction is received by the railway servant within a period of three months from the date of receipt of his request by the Government, he shall be free to assume that the permission as sought for has been granted to him.

[Authority: RBE No.115/1996, No.E(D&A)96/GS1-5, 24.12.1996, ACS No.36 R-1]

(2)   Nothing in this rule shall be deemed to prohibit a railway servant from vindicating his private character and or any act done by him in his private capacity and where any action for vindicating his private character or any act done by him in his private capacity it taken, the railway servant shall submit a report to the Government regarding such action.

Railway Ministry’s Decision:-

1.       Railway servants seeking redress of their grievances arising out of their employment of conditions of service should in their own interest and also consistently with official propriety and discipline first exhaust the normal official channels of redress before they take the issue to a court of law. Any attempt by Railway servants to seek redress from the court of law or such matters (even in cases where such a remedy is legally admissible) without first exhausting the normal official channels of redress can only be regarded as contrary to official propriety and subversive of good discipline and may well justify the initiation of disciplinary action against them.

[Authority: No.E(D&A)62/RG6-21, 05.02.1964 and, No.E(D&A)69/RG6-37, 14.02.1967]