JOIN USModi govts amends FR Rules, questions on Foreign Secretary's fixed tenure
The Narendra Modi government on Monday amended the Fundamental Rules, 1922 to omit the post of Foreign Secretary from its ambit, raising questions about the two-year fixed tenure enjoyed by officials holding the post.
The latest amendment to the Fundamental Rules 1922 was notified by the Ministry of Personnel, Public Grievances and Pensions on Monday, a day after the government promulgated the controversial ordinances that provide up to three one-year extensions beyond the fixed tenure of two years to ED and CBI chiefs.
There was no immediate clarity on why the post of Foreign Secretary was omitted from the Fundamental Rules, which apply to all government servants who are paid from the Consolidated Fund and covers their entire in-service and post-retirement working scenarios.
Sources in the Ministry of Personnel said Foreign Secretary was covered under the Indian Foreign Service Rules and that was why it was omitted. At the same time, the posts of Home Secretary and others mentioned in this provision are also covered under similar regulation but has not been omitted.
Questions still remain whether a Foreign Secretary continues to enjoy a fixed tenure of two years, as the latest move comes 11 years after the post was brought under the ambit of FR through a Cabinet decision citing the post increasingly acquiring "critical dimensions from the national security and strategic perspective".
An official statement issued on December 1, 2010 had said the Union Cabinet approved the proposal to amend Fundamental Rule (FR) 56 (d) to provide for extension in service to the Foreign Secretary for such period or periods as may be considered necessary in public interest, subject to the condition that the total term as Foreign Secretary does not exceed two years.
"This is in view of the assignment of Foreign Secretary having increasingly acquired critical dimensions from the national security and strategic perspective, and the need to ensure continuity and swiftness in the decision making-process," the statement had said then.
In January 2017, it was further amended to allow a one-year extension to the Foreign Secretary. Following this, the Modi government gave a one-year extension to S Jaishankar, who later became External Affairs Minister.
The posts of Defence Secretary, Home Secretary and Chiefs of Intelligence Bureau and RAW, which continues to find a mention in the provision, were having fixed tenures since 2005.
According to the amended notification, the FR now allows the Centre to give extension in the public interest to the Defence Secretary, Home Secretary, Director of Intelligence Bureau (IB), Secretary of Research and Analysis Wing (RAW) and directors of CBI and ED on a case-to-case basis, subject to the condition that the total term of such secretaries or directors, "does not exceed two years or the period provided in the respective Act or rules made thereunder".
Earlier, the posts of Home Secretary, Defence Secretary, Foreign Secretary, RAW chief, IB Director and CBI Director were covered under the provision of two-year fixed tenure.
The ED Director's post and its fixed tenure were covered under the Central Vigilance Act and with the new ordinance, the post was also brought under the ambit of FR.