New Delhi, July 30: India’s external intelligence agency, the Research & Analysis Wing (R&AW) has terminated four of its senior officials for ‘non-performance’ in the past one year. According to a report published in The Economics Times, compulsory premature retirement has been handed over to four joint secretary-level officers after reviewing their service record and annual performance appraisals. The agency has passed the decision following a rule of Department of Personnel and Training (DoPT). The rule allows the government to terminate non-performers after they have completed 30 years of years or have crossed the age of 50 years.

The DoPT had passed an order according to which the services of employees can be terminated prematurely after taking note of their entire service record under the Fundamental Rule 56 (j) or Rule 48 of CCS (Pension) Rules. According to the report, these four officers were reviewed under Article 56 (j) because they had crossed the age of 50. The Economic Times citing sources published that the officials had repeatedly been overlooked for promotions and were fast turning “unproductive”.

In the past, the R&AW followed the practice of “golden handshake” to get rid of unproductive employees before their due retirement age. According to the report, the four intelligence officers had served in key European countries. In a similar incident Nisha Priya Bhatia, a director-level officer in R&AW was made to retire on December 18, 2009. The Delhi High Court, however, upheld the decision.

(The above story first appeared on LatestLY on Jul 30, 2018 06:16 PM IST. For more news and updates on politics, world, sports, entertainment and lifestyle, log on to our website latestly.com).