No Need For Employees To Declare Assets Till New Rules Framed: Centre

NEWDELHI: Central government employees, who had a December 31 deadline to declare their assets and liabilities under Lokpal Act, do not need to make the disclosure for now as government is finalising a fresh set of rules.

Without specifying any date, an office memorandum has said rules will be notified in due course to prescribe the form, manner and timelines for filing declaration of assets and liabilities under the revised provision of the Lokpal Act.

In July this year, the central government employees were asked to declare their assets and liabilities by December 31 under section 44 of the Lokpal and Lokayuktas Act.

Besides this, the public servants were also directed to declare their annual return of assets and liabilities as on March 31, 2015 on or before December 31 this year.

Now, in the office memorandum, the Centre has clearly stated that there is no requirement for filing declaration of assets and liabilities by public servants as of now.

"..there is no requirement for filing declaration of assets and liabilities by public servants now. The Government is in the process of finalising a fresh set of rules," the office memorandum added.

"In this regard it is stated that with the passing of the Lokpal and Lokayuktas (Amendment) Act, 2016, the Public Servants (Furnishing of Information and Annual Plan of Assets and Liabilities and the Limits for Exemption of Assets in Filing Returns) Rules, 2014 and all the amendments made thereto become redundant," the Centre said.

Under Lokpal and Lokayuktas Act, an employee has to give details of deposits in foreign bank accounts, expensive paintings, antiques, furniture, electronic equipments, movable assets, insurance, bonds, shares and mutual funds, among others, in the declaration.

The declarations under the Act are in addition to similar ones filed by the employees under various services rules. There are about 50 lakh central government employees.