Centre amended the Pension Rules for Civil Servants, prohibiting retired officials in intelligence or security related organisations to publish any information related to their organisation without clearance from the competent authority. The retired officials will have to sign an undertaking to the effect and pension could be withheld or withdrawn for failure to comply with the rules.
The order is said to have a bearing on retired police chiefs and intelligence agency officials who have either penned a book or regularly write columns in newspapers and magazines.
The amended rule says that "No government servant, who, having worked in any Intelligence or Security-related organisation included in the Second Schedule of the Right to Information Act, 2005 (22 of 2005), shall, without prior clearance from Competent Authority" shall not publish in any manner, while in service or after retirement, any information or material or knowledge which is related to the domain of the organisation and obtained by virtue of working in the said organisation.
It bars retires officials from sharing sensitive information "the disclosure of which would prejudicially affect the sovereignty and integrity of India, the security, strategic, scientific or economic interests of the State, or relation with a foreign State or which would lead to incitement of an offence."
The rules called the Central Civil Services (Pension) Amendment Rules, 2020 and amend rule 8 (3A) pertaining to "pension subject to future good conduct."
The retired officials will have to sign "form 26" where they will have to give a legal undertaking to not share such information in public domain
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