Para 60 — CSMOP
Original Rule Text
60. Timely Disposal of receipts and monitoring of Parliamentary Assurances, Parliament Questions, Applications under RTI Act, MP/VIP References, CAT/Court Cases, etc. -
Time Limits will be fixed for disposal of as many types of cases as possible handled in the Department through departmental instructions. As a general rule, no official shall keep a case pending for more than 7 working days unless higher limits have been prescribed for specific types of cases through departmental instructions. In case of a case remaining with an official for more than the stipulated time limit, an explanation for keeping it pending shall be recorded on the note portion by him. The system of exception reporting will be introduced to monitor the disposal of receipts.
For timely disposal and monitoring of Parliament Assurances, Parliament Questions, Applications under RTI Act, MP/VIP References, Judicial/quasi-judicial, etc. each department shall maintain separate records of such cases.
E-Governance methods, suiting to the requirements, should also be adopted for monitoring and tracking of government work.
What This Means
Para 60 is one of the most operationally important paragraphs for Section Officers and dealing hands. It establishes the time discipline framework for the Central Secretariat. The general rule is that no case should stay pending with an official for more than 7 working days, unless a higher limit has been specifically prescribed by departmental instructions for that type of case. If a case is kept beyond the time limit, the official must record a written explanation in the notes portion of the file.
The para also establishes special monitoring requirements for five categories of high-priority cases: Parliamentary Assurances (commitments made by Ministers in Parliament), Parliament Questions, RTI applications, MP/VIP references, and Court/CAT cases. Each Department must maintain separate records for monitoring all these categories — they cannot be buried in the general dak flow.
E-Governance tools must be used for monitoring and tracking, and the system of 'exception reporting' — automatically flagging overdue cases — must be put in place. This para essentially demands systematic workflow management, not ad hoc handling of government business.
This explanation was generated with AI assistance for educational purposes. Always refer to the official gazette notification for authoritative text.
Key Points
- 1No official should keep a case pending beyond 7 working days without recording an explanation.
- 2Departmental instructions may prescribe higher time limits for specific types of cases.
- 3Separate records must be maintained for Parliamentary Assurances, Parliament Questions, RTI applications, MP/VIP references, and court cases.
- 4Exception reporting systems must be implemented to flag overdue cases automatically.
- 5E-Governance methods should be adopted for monitoring and tracking government work.
- 6The explanation for a delayed case must be recorded in writing on the note portion of the file — a verbal excuse is not sufficient.
Practical Example
A Section Officer in the Ministry of Housing notices that an RTI application received three weeks ago has been sitting with an ASO. The statutory deadline for RTI is 30 days. The SO checks the Section Diary and finds the RTI was received on 5 March 2026. Today is 26 March 2026 — 21 days have passed. The SO directs the ASO to expedite and records a note on the file: 'RTI application pending since 5 March 2026. Delay noted. Response to be completed by 4 April 2026 to meet statutory deadline.' The SO also checks the separate RTI monitoring register to see how many other RTI applications are pending and whether any have breached or are about to breach the 30-day limit.
This explanation was generated with AI assistance for educational purposes. Always refer to the official gazette notification for authoritative text.
Frequently Asked Questions
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This explanation was generated with AI assistance for educational purposes. Always refer to the official gazette notification for authoritative text.