Public servants should not be forced to furnish asset declaration every time there is a change in his assets and liabilities, a Parliamentary Panel has recommended in its draft report. Parliamentarians too come under the definition of public servants.
The Parliamentary Panel on Law and Justice, headed by BJP leader Bhupender Yadav, in its draft report has recommended changes to Public Servants (Declaration of Assets and Liabilities and Minimum Value of Assets for Condonation or Exemption) Rules, 2017.
The bill was referred to the standing committee on May 29, 2017.
As per the rules under the Act, the public servant has to declare their assets and liabilities. The rules also state that a public servant has to file a revised declaration if there is any change in his assets within a period of six months.
According to sources, the committee in its draft recommendation has said there could be “practical difficulty” in making such submission, especially for those public servants who may have alternate source of earning, other than their salary. “The problem is that in such a situation they may have to furnish declarations several times. The committee is of the view that declarations should be filed once a year instead of every time there is a change,” one of the members of the committee said.
The panel also recommended that if there is no change in the declared assets then the public servant should not be required to file any return for that year and the earlier return would be reckoned.