Punjab Police Rules Volume 1 - Sangrur Police

340 Punjab Police Rules, 1934 Volume 1, CHAPTER 11
Appendix 11.4-A
D.O. No. 890-G-37/5814(H-Gaz.)
Dated Lahore, the 19th Feburary, 1937
Subject :- RELIEF TO BE GIVEN TO DEPUTY COMMISSIONERS AND
OTHER ADMINISTRATIVE AND EXECUTIVE OFFICERS IN CLERICAL
WORK
MY DEAR SIR,
I am desired to inform you that at the instance of His Excellency the Viceroy, an exhaustive
inquiry was recently held into the touring of district officers. The latter were asked
to bring to the notice of Government any matters which tended to interfere with their touring.
The inquiry has elicited an almost general complaint.
(i) that unnecessary references are often made to district officers by the Secretariat
or by Heads of Department asking for information or report, and
(ii) that where necessary references are made, inadequate time is sometimes given
to reply them.
2. Proposals which are circulated from the Secretariat for opinion consist of Legislative
measures and other references. With regard to the former, there are Standing Orders
(paragraph 417 of the Secretariat Instructions) that it is undesirable to add to the pre-occupation
of district officers by asking for opinions on question of which they have little
knowledge, or which do not seriously affect their district, and the attention of all officers
in the Secretariat has recently been drawn to these instructions with a view to ensuring that
superfluous calls are not made on the time of Deputy Commissioners to divert them from
their more important duties.
3. With regard to other references, the Governor in Council acting with Ministers has
been pleased to lay down the following principles for observance in the Secretariat :-
(i) No call for information should be made, unless it is necessary for the disposal of
a case, and is not available in the Secretariat or office of the Head of Department
concerned.
(ii) While Commissioners and Deputy Commissioners should be freely consulted
about questions of Policy or particular cases affecting their charges, care should
be taken to see that references are not made, unless it is clearly desirable to have
the views of the Commissioner or Deputy Commissioner, and, in particular, the
pernicious practice should be checked of making references with the object of
temporarily getting rid of a case.
(iii) Where a reference is necessary, reasonable time should be given for a reply.
What is reasonable will depend on the nature of the case. Sometimes it is necessary
to have an immediate reply at others an early reply is necessary. Often
a period of two or three months may safely be given. Unless the case is immediate
or very urgent, referring authorities should give adequate time for the material
necessary for a reply to be collected.
(iv) Complaints or applications are often made direct to Government, which relate
to matters of a purely local character. Sometimes they are sufficiently important
or serious to merit a report to Government by the local authorities. More
often they can be left to the latter for disposal. Where this is the case, there are
two ways of dealing with them in the Secretariat; the first is to return the complaint
or application to the sender for presentation to the proper authority, and
the second is to be send it in original through the proper channel to the competent
authority for disposal. Where the first method is appropriate, it is to be preferred
to the second, since it helps to check a tendency which is on the increase.
In any case, the primary principle should be observed not to call for reports from
local officers on applications and complaints of this kind, unless it is clearly de-