By NNN-PTI,
New Delhi : In a bid to curb secrets leaking through officials retiring from sensitive departments, the Government has issued a gag order warning officers serving in strategic posts from sharing their “knowledge” with the world in any form even after superannuation.
The move comes months after retired Research and Analysis Wing officer Maj Gen V K Singh shared some of his experiences in his book “India’s External Intelligence: Secrets of RAW.” The government imposed a life-time ban on officers from publishing anything relating to “sensitive assignments” they carried out during their service.
According to a notification, issued by the Department of Personnel and Training, any failure to adhere to the ban order would result in the officer being penalised with reduction or withdrawal of pension “in part or full,” and even prosecution, in the event of their having violated an undertaking they would be forced to give on retirement from now.
“Failure to adhere to the ban shall be treated as grave misconduct. The undertaking would further bind the concerned official with appropriate penalty,” the guidelines, aimed at regulating publications by retired officers of any sensitive information, stated.
The gag order of the government has come into force with immediate effect.
To impose the ban order, the government has amended the central services pension rules to deter officers from giving out “sensitive information”, even in the form of statements to the media, on the secrets they held while in service.