515 IPS officers fail to declare property details, may face action

NEW DELHI: More than 500 IPS officers, including DGPs and IGPs, have failed to file their property details for the year 2016, which may lead to denial of promotion and cancellation of vigilance clearance, officials have said.

According to the All India Services (Conduct) Rules, 1968, all Indian Police Service officers are required to file their Immovable Property Return (IPR) in a prescribed format by January 31 every year.

However, as of March 31, 2017, as many as 3,390 IPS officers had filed IPR, out of the total cadre strength of 3,905 IPS officers, a home ministry official said.
Failure to declare details of property by the IPS officers may force the home ministry to take action against the erring officials. This could include denial of promotion and vigilance clearance.

The home ministry is the cadre controlling authority of IPS officers.
Many of the IPS officers who have failed file their property returns are Director Generals of Police, Additional Directors General of Police and Inspector Generals of Police, another official said.

Facing the peculiar situation of such a large number of IPS officers not declaring property details, the home ministry has directed all state governments and Union Territory administrations to seek an explanation from all the IPS officers who have not filed their IPR. 

According to the Public Servants (Furnishing of Information and Annual Return of Assets and Liabilities and the Limits for Exemption of Assets in Filing Returns) Amendment Rules, 2014, all central government employees except those working as peons or multi-tasking staff need to file property returns.

The rules are also notified under the Lokpal and Lokayuktas Act.The government had also issued a form for filing these returns which also seeks declarations of cash in hand, bank deposits, investment in bonds, debentures, shares and units in companies or mutual funds, insurance policies, provident fund, personal loans and advance given to any person or entity, among others.

The employees need to declare motor vehicles, aircraft, yachts or ships, gold and silver jewellery and bullion possessed by them, their spouses and dependent children, the official said.