5. Termination of temporary service.
(1) (a) The services of a temporary Government servant shall be liable to termination at any time by a notice in writing given either by the Government servant to the appointing authority or by the appointing authority to the Government servant;
(b) the period of such notice shall be one month.
Provided that the services of any such Government servant may be terminated forthwith and on such termination, the Government servant shall be entitled to claim a sum equivalent to the amount of his pay plus allowances for the period of the notice at the same rates at which he was drawing them immediately before the termination of his services, or as the case may be, for the period by which such notice falls short of one month.
NOTE:- The following procedure shall be adopted by the appointing authority while serving notice on such Government servant under clause (a).
(i) The notice shall be delivered or tendered to the Government servant in person.
(ii) Where personal service is not practicable, the notice shall be served on such Government servant by registered post, acknowledgement due at the address of the Government servant available with the appointing authority.
(iii) If the notice sent by registered post is returned unserved it shall be published in the Official Gazette and upon such publication, it shall be deemed to have been personally served on such Government servant on the date it was published in the Official Gazette.
(2) (a) Where a notice is given by the appointing authority terminating the services of a temporary Government servant, or where the service of any such Government servant is terminated on the expiry of the period of such notice or forthwith the Central Government or any other authority specified by the Central Government in this behalf or a head of Department, if the said authority is subordinate to him, may, of its own motion or otherwise, reopen the case and after making such inquiry as it deems fit-
(i) confirm the action taken by the appointing authority;
(ii) withdraw the notice;
(iii) reinstate the Government servant in service; or
(iv) make such other order in the case as it may consider proper.
Provided that except in special circumstances, which should be recorded in writing, no case shall be re-opened under this sub-rule after the expiry of three months-
(i) from the date of notice, in a case where notice is given;
(ii) from the date of termination of service, in a case where no notice is given.
(b) Where a Government servant is reinstated in service under sub-rule (2) the order of reinstatement shall specify –
(i) the amount or proportion of pay and allowances, if any, to be paid to the Government servant for the period of his absence between the date of termination of his services and the date of his reinstatement; and
(ii) whether the said period shall be treated as a period spent on duty for any specified purpose or purposes.
Government of India’s decisions
(1) Rule 5 enables Government to dispense with the services of a temporary employee forthwith but does not provide for the forfeiture to Government of a similar amount when the employee does not give the requisite notice. The practice of obtaining an undertaking from temporary employees regarding forfeiture of pay and allowances should be discontinued where this has not already been done.
[MHA OM No. 78/105/55-TS dt. 22.12.55, read with Deptt. of Personnel & A.R. Notification . No. 4/2/72-Ests. (C) dt. 22.11.72.]
(2) When action is taken as under Rule 5 to terminate the services of a temporary employee, the order of termination, which should be passed by the appointing authority, should not mention the reasons for such termination.
[MHA OM No.39/14/56-Estt.(A) dt. 22.6.56.]
(3) (i) Where a Central Government servant, whose services have been terminated on payment of pay and allowances in lieu of a period of notice is able to secure another appointment under the Central Government within that period, the break in service may be condone by the appointing authority and service in the new appointment treated as continuous with that in the previous appointment for all purposes including fixation of pay, seniority, leave and gratuity or other retirement benefits; provided that he shall refund to Government the pay and allowances of the former post for the unexpired portion of the notice after his re-employment as well as any gratuity or other termination benefits in respect of his previous service.
(ii) In the case of person who was in quasi-permanent service before discharge, condonation of break will entitle him to count his previous quasi-permanent service for pension in full only if he is declared to be in quasi-permanent service with effect from the date of such re-employment and is confirmed in continuation of such quasi-permanent service. If, however, he is treated as a temporary employee, not in quasi-permanent service, the previous quasi-permanent service will count only to the extent that purely temporary service would so count.
[MHA OM No. 9/1/54-RPS dt. 9.10.56.]
(4) It has been decided in consultation with the Ministry of Finance in cases where a quasi-permanent Government servant who secures alternative employment during the period of notice of termination or terminal leave granted to him, that:
(i) The initial pay of quasi-permanent employee securing alternative employment during terminal leave or period of notice may be fixed with reference to quasi-permanent pay last drawn on the principle of FR 22 (a) (i), FR 22 (a) (ii) or FR 22-C as the case may be; and
(ii) In the case where the alternative employment is in a lower post/grade and the quasi-permanent pay exceeds the minimum pay of such lower post/grade, pay will be limited to the maximum of the scale of the lower post/grade and no personal pay should be allowed over and above such maximum.
Provided the quasi permanent employee refunds pay and allowances of the former post/grade for the unexpired portion of the notice period as well as any gratuity or other terminal benefits in respect of his previous service. Formal sanction in each case shall be accorded by invoking the provisions of FR 27.
(MHA OM No. 7/26/59-TS, dt. 6.2.69.)
(5) (i) The period of one month should commence from the date the notice is served on or tendered to, the Government servant.
(ii) The Government of India, have standardised the proforma to be used for termination of services of temporary Government servants under rule 5 of the Central Civil Service (Temporary Service) Rules, 1965. Forms I and II are meant for use in cases where the appointing authority is other than the President of India, whereas Forms III and IV are to be used in cases where the appointing authority is the President of India (see Annexures I to IV).
(iii) Ordinarily when a Government servant is actually in service, there would not be any difficulty in serving the notice on him personally or tendering in the presence of some other officer, if he refuses to accept the same. In the cases where it is apprehended that service is likely to be evaded, e.g. when the officer is on long leave, service should be terminated forthwith with an offer to pay a month’s salary in lieu of notice as provided in the Rules.
(MHA OM No. 4/1/65-Ests. (C) dated 30.3.1967)
(6) A question has been raised regarding the treatment to be accorded to a letter of resignation submitted by a temporary Government servant, in the light of the provisions of the Central Civil Services (Temporary Service) Rules, 1965.
The question has been considered in consultation with the Ministry of Law and it is clarified that when a temporary Government servant submits a letter of resignation, a distinction should be drawn between a letter of resignation purporting to be a notice of termination of service and one which is not. This is because a notice of termination of service, given by a temporary Government servant under rule 5 (1) of the Central Civil Services (Temporary Service) Rules, 1965, is something different from a mere letter of resignation submitted by him without any reference direct or indirect, to the said rule. While the former is an exercise of the right conferred by statutory rules enabling a temporary Government servant to cease performance of his duties automatically on the expiry of the prescribed period of notice, the latter required acceptance by the competent authority in order to become effective. Therefore, if a temporary Government servant submits a letter of resignation in which he does not refer to rule 5 (1) of the Central Civil Services(Temporary Service) Rules, 1965 or does not even say that it be treated as a notice of termination of service, the provisions of rule 5 (1) ibid will not be attracted. In such a case, the resignation of the temporary Government servant will be dealt with under the provision of Home Ministry’s OM No. 39/6/57-Ests. (A) dated the 6th May, 1958 and he can relinquish his post only when the resignation is accepted and he can be relieved of his duties. It will, therefore, be possible in such circumstances to retain the temporary officer even beyond one month if it takes time to make alternative arrangements. This will not be repugnant to the provisions of the Central Civil Services(Temporary Service) Rules, 1965 in any way, because when a temporary Government servant submits a letter of resignation without invoking the provisions of the said Rules, they will not come into picture.
(MHA OM No. 4/1/65-Ests. (C) dt 25.5.66.)
(7) Consequent on the issue of the Central Civil Services (Temporary Service) Rules, 1965 the various forms prescribed under the Central Civil Services (Temporary Service) Rules, 1949 have been reviewed and it has been decided to have, under the new Rules, the forms contained in Annexures V and VI. These will be in addition to the forms prescribed for termination of service of a temporary Government servant under rule 5 (1) of the Central Civil Services (Temporary Service) Rules, 1965 vide OM No. 4/1/65-Ests. (C) dated 30.3.1967.
(MHA OM No. 4/2/66-Est. (C) dt 27.8.66.)
(8) Under Rule 5 of the Central Civil Services (Temporary Service) Rules, 1965, the services of a temporary Government servant, who is not in quasi-permanent service, can be terminated at any time by a notice in writing given either by the Government servant who is not in quasi-permanent service to the appointing authority or by the appointing authority to the Government servant. A question has arisen whether this rule should be invoked also in the case of persons appointed on probation, where in the appointment letter a specific condition regarding termination of service without any notice during or at the end of the period of probation (including extended period, if any) has been provided. The position is that the Central Civil Services (Temporary Service) Rules,1965, do not specifically exclude probationers or persons on probation as such. However, in view of the specific condition regarding termination of service without any notice during or at the end of the period of probation (including extended period, if any), it has been decided, in consultation with the Ministry of Law, that in cases where such a provision has been specifically made in the letter of appointment, it would be desirable to terminate the services of the probationer/person on probation in terms of the letter of appointment and not under Rule 5 (1) of the Central Civil Services (Temporary Service) Rules, 1965.
(MHA Memo No. 4/10/66-Ests. (C) dated 26.8.67.)
(9) (i) A question has been raised whether in the case of temporary Government servants whose services are terminated on payment of one month’s pay and allowances in lieu of notice under Rule 5 of the Central Civil Services (Temporary Service) Rules, 1965, earned leave at their credit may be granted as terminal leave and how the leave salary, therefore, be regulated. It has been clarified that, in cases in which pay in lieu of notice is allowed, the Government servant concerned may be granted terminal leave to the extent due and admissible but the leave salary for such leave should be allowed only for the period of leave excluding that period for which pay and allowances in lieu of notice have been allowed.
(ii) The cases of quasi-permanent Government servants whose services are similarly terminated under Rule 7 of the Central Civil Services (Temporary Service) Rules, 1965 and who are granted terminal leave, may also be regulated as above.
[M.F. Memo No. F.5(4)-E.IV(A)/68 dt. 24.8.68.]