Railway Servants (Conduct of Disciplinary Inquiry through Video Conferencing) Regulations, 2024: Notification dated 17.05.2024

MINISTRY OF RAILWAYS
(Railway Board)

NOTIFICATION

New Delhi, the 17th May, 2024

GSR 287(E).—In pursuance of second proviso of sub rule (2) of rule 9 of the Railway Servants (Discipline and Appeal) Rules, 1968, the Central Government hereby makes the following regulations, namely:-

2. Short title and commencement.- (1) These regulations may be called the Railway Servants (Conduct of Disciplinary Inquiry through Video Conferencing) Regulations, 2024.

(2) They shall come into force on date of their publication in the Official Gazette.

3. Application.– These regulations shall apply to the departmental inquiries to be conducted in accordance with the procedure laid down in rule 9 of the Railway Servants (Discipline and Appeal) Rules, 1968, by utilising the digital mode of video conferencing.

4. Definitions.– In these regulations, unless the context otherwise requires-

(a) “Co-ordinator” means a person appointed as Co-ordinator under regulation 6;

(b) “designated video conferencing software” means the software permitted by the Inquiring Authority from time to time to conduct video conferencing;

railway_servants_conduct_of_disciplinary_inquiry_through_video_conferencing_regulations_2024

(c) “official e-mail” means any e-mail account provided by the Department at the commencement of the inquiry proceedings including the substitution thereof for the reasons to be recorded in writing by the Inquiring Authority;

(d) “proceedings” includes a physical inquiry proceeding and a virtual inquiry proceeding;

(e) “proceeding point” means the place where the inquiry proceedings is physically presided over by the Inquiring Authority in the premises of a railway administration including a Public Sector Undertaking administered by the Ministry of Railways;

(f) “remote point” means the place where the participants to the inquiry proceedings are to appear through a video link, in the premises of a railway administration including a Public Sector Undertaking administered by the Ministry of Railways;

(g) “remote user” means the person participating in the proceedings through video conferencing at a remote point; and

(h) all other words and expressions used herein but not defined in these regulations shall have the meanings respectively assigned to them in the Railway Servants (Discipline and Appeal) Rules, 1968 and the Information Technology Act , 2000 (21 of 2000).

5. General principles relating to Video Conferencing.– (1) The video conferencing facilities may be used at any or all the stages of the inquiry proceedings, as determined by the Inquiring Authority.

(2) Subject to maintaining independence, impartiality and credibility of the inquiry proceedings, the Inquiring Authority may adopt such technological advancement as may become available to it from time to time.

(3) No recording of the proceedings by any person or entity shall be permitted except with the prior permission of the Inquiring Authority.

(4) The identity of the remote users shall be established on the basis of the identity proof as recognised by the Government of India or State Government or Union territory and in case of identity proof not being readily available, the person concerned shall furnish the name, parentage and permanent address, as also temporary address, if any.

(5) The Inquiry proceedings shall be conducted by the designated video conferencing software as chosen by the Inquiring Authority:

Provided that in the event of a technical problem during a given proceeding, the Inquiring Authority may, for reasons to be recorded in writing by it, permit the use of software, other than the designated video conferencing software, for video conferencing in that particular proceeding.

(6) The official e-mail to be used for the conduct of the inquiry proceedings shall be permitted by the Inquiring Authority at the commencement of the proceedings and its substitution, if any, shall be permitted only by the Inquiring Authority for the reasons to be recorded by it in writing.

(7) The video conferencing shall ordinarily take place during the official working hours:
Provided that the Inquiring Authority may pass suitable directions concerning the timing and schedule of video conferencing as the circumstances may warrant.

(8) Once the proceedings have commenced, no other persons shall be permitted to participate in the virtual hearing, except with the prior permission of the Inquiring Authority.

(9) The establishment and disconnection of links between the proceeding point and the remote point would be done by or under the orders of the Inquiring Authority.

(10) The Inquiring Authority shall satisfy itself that the required persons at the remote point or the proceeding point are seen and heard clearly and can see and hear the Inquiring Authority.

(11) The Inquiring Authority shall satisfy itself and also record its satisfaction as to clarity, sound and connectivity for both the proceeding point and the remote point users.

(12) An audio-visual recording of the entire inquiry proceedings conducted through video conferencing shall be preserved and an encrypted master copy with hash value shall be retained as a part of the record.

(13) Wherever any proceeding is carried out by taking recourse to video conferencing, the same shall specifically be mentioned in the order sheet by the Inquiring Authority.

(14) The Inquiring Authority may also impose such other conditions as are necessary for a given set of facts for effective recording of the examination and especially with respect to sub-regulation (3) of regulation 6.

(15) The examination referred to in sub-regulation (14) shall, as far as practicable, proceed without interruption:

Provided that in the interest of justice, the Inquiring Authority shall be at liberty to determine whether an adjournment should be granted, and if so, on what terms.

(16) The Inquiring Authority shall be guided by the provisions of the Railway Servants (Discipline and Appeal) Rules, 1968 and the Information Technology Act, 2000 (21 of 2000) while examining a person through video conferencing.

6. Co-ordinator.- (1) There shall be a Co-ordinator at the Remote Point who shall be designated by the Inquiring Authority.

(2) The Railway Administration or the Public Sector Undertaking, as the case may be, exercising jurisdiction on the remote point shall extend the requisite co-operation to the Inquiring Authority by promptly sparing a Railway servant well conversant with handling of the electronic mode of video conferencing to act as the Co-ordinator in response to the request made by the Inquiring Authority.

(3) The Co-ordinator shall ensure that-

(i) all remote users scheduled to appear in a particular proceeding at the remote point are ready at the remote point designated for video conferencing at least thirty minutes before the scheduled time;

(ii) no recording is done and no recording device is used except with the prior permission of the Inquiring Authority;

(iii) no unauthorised person enters the video conferencing room when the video conferencing is in progress and no person is present at the remote point except with the prior permission of the Inquiring Authority;

(iv) the remote user person being examined is not prompted, induced, tutored, coerced, threatened or promised in any manner by any person and that the person being examined does not refer to any document, script or device without the prior permission of the Inquiring Authority during the examination.

7. Service of Summons.– (1) The provisions contained in the Railway Servants (Discipline and Appeal) Rules, 1968 shall apply to service of summons for proceedings conducted by video conferencing.

(2) The summons issued to a witness who is to be examined through video conferencing, shall mention the date, time and venue of the concerned remote point and shall direct the witness to attend in person along with proof of identity or deposition to that effect.

8. Preparatory arrangements and general requirements.-(1) The Inquiring Authority shall give sufficient notice in advance, setting out the schedule of video conferencing to the remote user persons.

(2) Before commencement of the proceedings of the scheduled video conferencing, the Inquiring Authority shall ensure that the Co-ordinator at the remote point receives certified copies of printouts or photocopy or a soft copy of the non-editable scanned copies of all or any part of the record of proceedings which may be required for recording statements or evidence, or for reference:

Provided that these documents or copies shall be permitted to be used by the remote user persons only with the prior permission of the Inquiring Authority.

(3) The Inquiring Authority shall ensure through the Co-ordinator that no unauthorised person is present in the video conferencing room at the remote point and no person except those permitted by the Inquiring Authority, is present in the video conferencing room at the time of examination of any person at the remote point.

(4) The Inquiring Authority shall also conduct a trial video conferencing preferably thirty minutes before scheduled video conferencing to ensure that all the technical systems are in working condition at both the proceeding point and the remote point.

(5) At the scheduled time, the Inquiring Authority shall connect the remote user to the proceeding point.

(6) The video conferencing shall ordinarily take place during the official working hours:

Provided that the Inquiring Authority may pass suitable directions concerning the timing and schedule of video conferencing as the circumstances may warrant.

(7) The Inquiring Authority shall ensure that video conferencing is conducted only through a designated video conferencing software.
Explanation: For the removal of doubts, it is hereby clarified that in the event of a technical mal- functioning during a proceeding, the Inquiring Authority may, for reasons to be recorded in writing by it, permit the use of software other than the designated video conferencing software for video conferencing in that particular proceeding.

(8) The Inquiring Authority shall note the objections raised, if any, during the deposition of the person being examined and pass appropriate order thereon, in writing.

(9) An audio-visual recording of the examination of the person examined shall be preserved and an encrypted master copy with hash value shall be retained as a part of the record.

(10) The disconnection of link between the proceeding point and the remote point shall be done by or on the orders of the Inquiring Authority.

(11) On completion of the video conferencing proceeding on each day, the Inquiring Authority shall make the daily order sheet of the time and duration of the proceeding, the software used (in case the software used is not the designated video conferencing software), the issue raised during the proceedings, if any, and the documents, if any, that were produced and transmitted online, in addition to the aspects dealt with in sub- regulations (3) to (7), (9) to (10) and (13) of regulation 5, as deemed fit:

Provided that in case a digital recording is tendered, the Inquiring Authority shall record its duration in the order sheet along with all other requisite details.

(12) The Inquiring Authority shall also record its satisfaction as to clarity, sound and connectivity for both users and remote users.

9. Examination of persons.- (1) No witness shall be examined unless his identity has been established as provided for in sub-regulation (4) of regulation 5 and the same shall be reflected in the daily order sheet and the identity of the witness deposing at the remote point shall be confirmed by the Inquiring Authority with the assistance of the Co-ordinator who shall obtain signatures of the witnesses on the hard copies of the Identity proof as provided in sub-regulation (4) of regulation 5 and after countersigning the same shall dispatch them to the Inquiring Authority via authorised courier or registered speed post.

(2) A scanned copy of such documents shall be digitally signed by the Co-ordinator and immediately transmitted by him through official email to the Inquiring Authority.

(3) The person being examined shall ordinarily be examined during the official working hours or at such time as the Inquiring Authority may deem fit and necessary.

(4) The Co-ordinator at the remote point shall ensure that no person, except with the specific permission of the Inquiring Authority, is present at the remote point save and except the person being examined.

(5) The Inquiring Authority shall record whilst under examination such remarks, if any, as he thinks material respecting the demeanor of the person.

(6) The Inquiring Authority may also issue such other directions as are necessary for a given set of facts for effective recording of the examination.

(7) The Inquiring Authority shall obtain the signature of the person being examined on the transcript once the examination is concluded and the signed transcript shall form part of the record of the inquiry proceedings.

(8) The signature on the transcript of the person being examined shall be obtained in either of the following ways, namely:-

(a) if digital signatures are available at both the concerned proceeding point and the remote point, the soft copy of the transcript digitally signed by the Inquiring Authority shall be sent by the official e-mail to the remote point where a printout of the same shall be taken and signed by the person being examined;

(b) a scanned copy of such signed transcript shall be digitally signed by the Co-ordinator at the remote point and the same would be transmitted by official email to the proceeding point and the hard copy of the signed transcript shall be dispatched after the examination is completed, preferably within a period of three clear days by the Co-ordinator at the remote point to the Inquiring Authority by recognised courier or registered speed post;

(c) if digital signatures are not available, the printout of the transcript shall be signed by the Inquiring Authority and the representative of the parties, if any, at the proceeding point and shall be sent in non-editable scanned format to the official email account of the remote point, where a printout of the same shall be taken and signed by the person examined and countersigned by the Co-ordinator at the remote point;

(d) a non-editable scanned format of the transcript so signed shall be sent by the Co-ordinator of the remote point to the official email account of the Inquiring Authority, upon which a printout of the same shall be taken and shall be made a part of the record of the proceedings and the hard copy shall also be dispatched preferably within a period of three clear days by the Co-ordinator at the remote point to the Inquiring Authority by recognised courier or registered speed post.

(9) The examination shall, as far as practicable, proceed without interruption or the grant of unnecessary adjournments:
Provided that the Inquiring Authority shall be at liberty to determine whether an adjournment should be granted, and if so, on what terms.

10. Exhibiting or Showing Documents to Witness or the charged Railway servant at a Remote Point.- If in the course of examination of a person at a remote point by video conferencing, it is necessary to show a document to the person, the Inquiring Authority may permit the document to be shown in the following manner, namely:-

(a) if the document is at the proceeding point, by transmitting a copy or image of the document to the remote point electronically, including through a document visualiser; or

(b) if the document is at the remote point, by putting it to the person and transmitting a copy or image of the same to the proceeding point electronically including through a document visualiser:
Provided that the hard copy of the document countersigned by the witness and the Co-ordinator at the remote point shall be dispatched thereafter to the proceeding point via authorised courier or registered speed post.

11. Recording of the Daily Order Sheets.- On close of the proceedings on each day, the Inquiring Authority shall draw up the order sheet in terms of sub-regulation (11) of regulation 8 and while the Inquiring Authority and the necessary persons present at the proceeding point shall put their signatures physically, the signatures of the necessary persons at the remote point shall be obtained in either of the following ways, namely:-

(a) if digital signatures are available at both the concerned proceeding point and the remote point, the soft copy of the daily order sheet digitally signed by the Inquiring Authority and other necessary persons at the proceeding point shall be sent by the official e-mail to the remote point where a printout of the same shall be taken and signed by the necessary persons at the remote point;

(b) a scanned copy of such signed printout shall be digitally signed by the Co-ordinator at the remote point and the same should be transmitted by official email to the proceeding point;

(c) the hard copy of the signed transcript will be dispatched preferably within three clear days by the Co- ordinator at the remote point to the Inquiring Authority by recognised courier or registered speed post;

(d) if digital signatures are not available, the printout of the daily order sheet shall be signed by the Inquiring Authority and the necessary persons at the proceeding point and shall be sent in non-editable scanned format to the official e-mail account of the remote point, where a printout of the same shall be taken and signed by the necessary persons at the remote point and countersigned by the Co-ordinator;

(e) a non-editable scanned format of the printout so signed shall be sent by the Co-ordinator of the remote point to the official e-mail account of the Inquiring Authority, upon which a print out of the same would be taken and shall be made a part of the record of the proceedings;

(f) the hard copy would also be dispatched preferably within a period of three clear days by the Co-ordinator at the remote point to the Inquiring Authority by recognised courier or registered speed post.

12. Ensurance by Inquiring Authority while communicating report to the Disciplinary Authority.– The Inquiring Authority shall ensure that the physically signed hard copies as well as the printouts of the digitally signed transcripts and daily order sheets recorded during the proceedings conducted through video conferencing together with the electronic records provided for in sub-regulation (12) of regulation 5 are duly matched and made part of the records of the proceedings while communicating the Inquiry Report to the Disciplinary Authority.

13. Regulations in addition to and not in derogation of the Railway Servants (Discipline and Appeal) Rules, 1968.- The provisions of these regulations shall be in addition to and not in derogation of the Railway Servants (Discipline and Appeal) Rules, 1968.

[F. No. E(D&A) 2020 RG6-6]
SUNIL KUMAR, Executive Director/Establishment