Report No. 179

7.24 Transfer of public servant for avoiding victimization.-

It is possible that during the continuance of the inquiry against the public servant against whom the disclosure is made, the person who has made the disclosure may be harassed by way of transfer. It may also happen that in spite of a bona fide belief in the truth of the allegations contained in the disclosure, the allegations are not proved in the inquiry conducted by the Competent Authority and in such a case, the public servant who had made the complaint may be harassed within his department. It is also possible that the allegations made by public servant are proved in the inquiry conducted by the Competent Authority and thereafter the person who made the disclosure may suffer unnecessary harassment in his department.

In Australia and in United States of America, the relevant statutes (referred to in Chapter VI) give a choice to the public servant who made the complaint to seek a transfer to other department, subject of course to his qualification, experience and the availability of an equivalent post. We propose a similar safeguard.