THE PUNJAB BAR COUNCIL EMPLOYEES
SERVICE
RULES 1974
(AS AMENDED UP TO DATE)
No. 4587/1982 – In exercise of the power conferred by Section 56 of the Legal Practitioners & Bar Council Act, 1973 (Act XXXV of 1973), the Punjab Bar Council is pleased to make the following Rules –
THE PUNJAB BAR COUNCIL EMPLOYEES RULES, 1974
(See Section 56 of the Act)
CHAPTER – I
GENERAL: These Rules may be called the Punjab Bar Council Employees Service Rules, 1974. They shall come into force with effect from Ist July, 1974, except Chapter VIII which shall come into force from 15.4.1982. In these Rules, unless the context otherwise requires, the following expressions shall have the meanings hereby respectively assigned to them, that is to say –
- “Appointing Authority”, means the authority enumerated as such under Rule 4.11 of the Pb.Bar Council Rules, 1974;
- “Bar Council”, means the Punjab Bar Council;
- “Executive Committee”, means the Executive Committee of the Punjab Bar Council;
- “Chairman”, means the Chairman of the Executive Committee;
- “Rules”, means the Punjab Bar Council Rules, 1974;
- “Employee”, means an employee of the Punjab Bar Council;
- “Appendix”, means the appendix to these Rules; &
- Terms not defined shall have the meanings assigned to them under the Act and the Rules.
CHAPTER – II
REQUIREMENT – QUALIFICATION & RETIREMENT
2.1. The qualification required for the various categories of posts, and the pay scales shall be as specified in the Appendix. Provided that the Bar Council may allow special pay to an employee who has been drawing the maximum of his grade for the last two years. Provided further that the Bar Council may relax the qualifications for appointment/promotion in relation to an employee.
2.2. The employees shall be given preference in the matter of appointment, but in the event of non availability of a suitable person, the vacancy shall be filled up by direct recruitment after public advertisement.
2.3. Promotion, shall be strictly on the basis of seniority-cum-efficiency.
2.4. No person, who has been dismissed from service or convicted of an offence involving moral turpitude, shall be eligible for appointment.
2.5. The minimum age for employment shall be 18 years.
2.6. The retirement age of an employee shall be 1(60) years.
Provided that the Bar Council may retire an employee earlier on the ground of his being found medically unfit to perform his duties.
CHAPTER – III
CONDITIONS OF SERVICE
3.1. A person joining on initial appointment shall remain on probation for a period of one year and an employee, who is promoted, shall remain on probation for six months.
3.2. If the work or the conduct of an employee during the period of probation has been unsatisfactory, the appointing authority, notwithstanding, that the period of probation has not expired, may, if he has been appointed by initial recruitment, dispense with his services, and if he has been appointed by promotion, revert him to his substantive post.
3.3. On completion of the period of probation, the appointing authority may confirm the employee in the appointment, or if his work or conduct has, in the opinion of the appointing authority not been satisfactory –
- in case he has been appointed by initial recruitment, dispense with his service;
- in case he has been appointed by promotion, revert him to his substantive post;
- extend the period of probation by a period not exceeding one year in case of initial recruitment, and six months in case of appointment by promotion, and during or on the expiry of such period, pass such orders as it could have passed during or on the expiry of the initial probationary period; Provided that if no orders have been made by the day following the completion of the initial probationary period, the period of probation shall be deemed to have been extended. Provided further that if no orders have been made by the day on which the maximum period of probation expires, the probationer shall be deemed to have been confirmed in his appointment from the date on which the period of probation was last extended.
3.4. The seniority inter of the employees in a grade shall be determined with reference to their dates of appointments to the grade.
Provided that if the date of appointment of more than one employee is the same, the seniority shall be determined by the date of birth.
CHAPTER – IV
CONTRIBUTORY PROVIDENT FUND
4.1. There shall be a Contributory Provident Fund, to be called the Punjab Bar Council Employees Contributory Fund, hereinafter referred to as the ‘Fund’.
1 . Substituted by Notification No. 4286, dated 10.7.1987.
4.2. Each employee shall compulsorily contribute to the Fund at the rate of Rs. 12.5, percent, per month, of his basic pay, and the Bar Council shall, also, made an equal contribution to the account of such employee. Provided that an employee shall not be entitled to receive the contribution from the Bar Council unless he has put in five years of continuous service. Provided further that the employees who have completed five years service at the time of the commencement of these rules shall be entitled to payment of the contribution of the Bar Council under Rule 4.2.
4.3. An employee shall be entitled to payment of the amount due to him under Rule 4.2, on his leaving employment or on retirement, and in the event of the death of an employee, the amount shall be paid to such person/persons as may have been nominated by him to receive the amount. Provided that no employee, who is dismissed from service, shall be entitled to receive the contribution of the Bar Council under Rule 4.2.
4.4. At the recommendations of the appointing authority, and subject to the discretion of the Bar Council, and advance from the Contributory Provident Fund shall be granted to an employee has put in –
- less than five years of continuous service, up to the amount contributed by him to the C.P.Fund;
- more than five years continuous service, up to the amount to be determined by the appointing authority out of the total contribution,
for the following purposes-
- to pay expenditure incurred in connection with the illness of the employee or any person actually dependent on him;
- to pay expenditure in connection with the marriage of the employee, or any person actually dependent on him;
- to pay expenditure on building or purchasing of house or site for a house;
- to pay expenditure in connection with the performance of Hajj; and
- such emergency, which the Bar Council may deem fit.
CHAPTER – V
LEAVE
5.1. . Each employee shall be entitled to avail the following paid leave –
- Casual leave not to exceed 25 days in a calendar year to be allowed for good cause only. Provided that no employee shall be allowed casual leave for more than six consecutive days at a time.
- Earned Leave – An employee of the Punjab Bar Council shall earn leave to be calculated at the rate of four days for every calendar month of the period of duty rendered and credited to the leave accounts. Duty period of 15 days or less in a calendar month shall be ignored and of more than 15 days shall be treated as a full calendar month for the purpose. There shall be no maximum limit on the accumulation of such leave.
- Grant of Leave – The maximum period of leave on a full salary that may be granted at one time, shall be as follows:
- without a medical certificate. 120 days.
- with a medical certificate. 180 days
- on a medical certificate from leave account in entire service. 365 days.
5.2. . Extraordinary leave (leave without pat): It may be granted on any ground up to a maximum period of five years at a time, provided the employees to whom such leave is granted has been in continuous service for a period not less than ten years; in case an employee has not completed ten years of continuous service, extraordinary leave without pay for a maximum period of two years may be granted at the discretion of the appointing authority.
5.3. . Leave Preparatory to Retirement: Subject to availability, the maximum period, which an employee may be granted as leave preparatory to retirement, shall be 365 days, on payment of full salary.
5.4. . Encashment of refused leave: If in case of retirement on attaining the age of superannuation, an employee, for reasons of public service be granted leave preparatory to retirement, duly applied for insufficient time, he will in lieu thereof be granted lump-sum leave salary, for the leave refused to him, subject to a maximum of 180 days leave, on full salary.
5.5. In-Service Death: In case an employee dies while in service, lump-sum payment equal to the full salary of the accumulated Earned Leave at his credit, shall be made to his family, and, in case there is no Earned Leave available at the time of death of the employee, his family shall be paid full salary up to 180 days.
CHAPTER – VI
DISCIPLINARY ACTIONE
6.1. When an employee, in the opinion of the Appointing Authority,
- is inefficient, or has ceased to be efficient;
- is guilty of misconduct; or
- is negligent,
6.2. the appointing authority may impose on him one or more penalties.
EXPLANATION –“Misconduct” includes conduct prejudicial to good or office discipline or unbecoming of an employee, and gentleman or any act prejudicial to the cause, and purpose of Bar Council, and the legal profession.
The following are the penalties, namely –
- warning;
- Censure;
- Withholding for a specific period increment or promotion;
- Recovery from pay or other emoluments, of the whole or any part of any pecuniary loss, caused to the Bar Council by negligence or breach of order;
- Reversion to a lower post;
- Removal from service; and
- Dismissal from service.
EXPLANATION-In this Rule, removal from service or dismissal from service does not include the discharge of a person appointed on probation during the period of probation or appointed under a contract to hold temporary appointment on the expiration of the period of appointment or in accordance with the terms of his contract.
6.3. When an employee is to be proceeded against under clause (a) of Rule 6.1, and the Appointing Authority is of the opinion that the allegations if established would call for any or more penalties provided in clause (i), (ii), and (iii) of Rule 6.2, the Appointing Authority shall make the allegations against an employee known to him in writing and call upon him to explain his conduct within seven days of the receipt thereof and consider the explanation of the employee, if any, submitted within the specified time and after giving him an opportunity of being heard in person, may award any one or more of the penalties specified in Rule 6.2, clauses (i), (ii), and (iii).
6.4. When an employee is to be proceeded against under clause (b) or (c) of Rule 6.1, and the Appointing Authority is of the opinion that the allegations if established, would call for a penalty provided in clause (iv) to (vii) of Rule 6.2, the following procedure shall be observed, namely-
- The Appointing Authority shall frame a charge and communicate it to the employee together with the statement of allegations and any other circumstances, which are proposed to be taken into consideration;
- The Appointing Authority shall require the employee to put in a written defence within ten days from the day the charge has been communicated to him, stating at the same time whether he desires to be heard in person, or not;
- If the written defence submitted by the employee is found to be unsatisfactory, the Appointing Authority shall appoint an Enquiry Officer to hold an enquiry into the allegations;
- The Enquiry Officer, shall, after the enquiry in which the employee shall be entitled to be heard, submit his report within two months of the commencement of his enquiry to the Appointing Authority within seven days of the conclusion of the enquiry;
- The Appointing Authority shall consider the report, and if, upon such consideration, it is of the opinion that a penalty should be imposed upon the employee, it shall provisionally determine the penalty to be imposed, and shall so inform the employee, and supply him with a copy of the report and call upon him to show cause within seven days of the communication thereof why the penalty proposed should not be imposed.
- The Appointing Authority shall take into consideration any cause shown by the employee, and pass a final order thereafter
6.5. An employee against whom action is proposed to be taken under clause (b) or (c) of Rule 6.1, may be placed under suspension, provided that it shall be subject to such orders in relation to attendance or non-attendance of the office as may be made by the Appointing Authority.
6.6. In the event of the employee being exonerated of the charges, he shall be entitled to payment of the salary for the period of suspension in addition to such allowance to which he is entitled, accounting for any payments made during the suspension.
6.7. An employee, on whom a penalty is imposed, shall have the right of appeal to the Bar Council, where the Appointing Authority is other than the Bar Council.
CHAPTER – VII
ALLOWANCES
7.1. . An employee shall be paid, subject to revision from time to time –
- Conveyance Allowance at the rate of –
- (Rs. 76/-) per month,
- (Rs. 108/-), per month, to an employee holding a motorcycle.
- (Rs. 161/-), per month, from NPS-17, and above.
- House Rent Allowance at the rate of 45% of the minimum of corresponding National PayScale.
- Medical Allowance at the rate of 15% per month of his basic pay, subject to a minimum of Rs. 60/-, and maximum of Rs. 120/-, per month
- Capital Allowance at the rate of 5% of the basic pay.
7.2. The employee shall be eligible to T.A./D.A. as admissible from time to time to Government servants in the comparative pay scales.
7.3. All the employees of the Bar Council shall be the whole time employees.
7.4. 7.4. Nothing in these Rules shall affect any special allowance, allowed to an employee by the Bar Council.
CHAPTER – VIII
GRATUITY
8.1. Gratuity: Gratuity is the recognition of the services rendered to the Punjab Bar Council over a long period by a staff member.
8.2. . Eligibility: All categories of staff, fulfilling conditions mentioned hereunder shall be eligible for payment of Gratuity.
8.3. Conditions of Eligibility :
- The member of staff must have put in at least 2(10) years of service with the Punjab Bar Council, including the period of probation if any;
- He must have retired on reaching the age of retirement prescribed by the Punjab Bar Council, which at present is 3(60) years; &
- Gratuity on the same basis shall also be payable to an employee who resigns after completion of 10years of continuous service or on the eve of the marriage of his daughter/son. In case the gratuity is availed under this Rule, the same shall be deducted from the amount of Gratuity admissible to the concerned employee at the end of his service. 5Provided that an employee, having put in 25 years of continuous service, shall be entitled to the payment of 80% of the total amount of gratuity admissible to him. The said payment shall, however, be adjusted at the time of his resignation or retirement. Provided that if he dies, while in the service of the Punjab Bar Council, before qualifying the condition under clause (i), above, his nominee/nominees shall be paid gratuity at the rate of 1(two months) 2(basic) salary for each completed year of service put in by him. 3(Provided further that the Appointing Authority, under special circumstances, may waive the ‘condition of eligibility, and allow payment of 4(two) months salary, each for the years of service put in by an employee).
8.4. . Qualification: The following categories of staff shall not be eligible for payment of any gratuity –
- those who resign from the service of Punjab Bar Council before completing the service of 5(10) years; &
- those who are dismissed.
8.5. Computation of amount of Gratuity: For calculating the Gratuity payable to a member of the staff, only the monthly 6(basic) salary, last drawn by the employee on the date of his retirement, or, resignation or death 7(and excluding all allowances, benefits, and perquisites), and shall be taken into consideration.
8.6. . Computation of period of service: –: For the purpose of calculating the period of 8(10) years of service with the Punjab Bar Council, only continuous 9(10) years shall be taken into consideration.
8.7. PAYMENT OF GRATUITY TO THE EMPLOYEE/NOMINEE :
- Subject to the eligibility, the gratuity shall be paid to the employee computed at the rate of 10(two months) 11(salary) last drawn for the number of years of service put in by him; &
- If an employee eligible for payment of gratuity under these rules, dies in the service of the Punjab Bar Council, or after the acceptance of resignation or retirement, but before payment of the gratuity amount to him, such amount shall be paid to his nominee/nominees. Any payment effected by the Punjab Bar Council in accordance with the provisions of this Rule shall give complete discharge to it in respect thereof.
8.8. . SET-OFF PUNJAB BAR COUNCIL’S CLAIM AGAINST GRATUITY: In case of members of staff who are eligible for payment of gratuity according to the Rule, and who owe any money to the Punjab Bar Council, the Council shall be entitled, without being bound to do so, to set-off and appropriate the amount of gratuity against such dues owing to the Council or such position thereof as may be sufficient to meet or satisfy the same.
8.9. These Rules, with modifications, or amendments made from time to time, and incorporation herein by the Punjab Bar Council, on being circulated amongst the employees of the Council, shall be acceptable to, and binding on all the employees of the Council.
APPENDIX TO RULE 4.2.
| NAME OF POST | Minimum Qualification & Method Of Recruitment | Pay Scale |
| 1. Secretary | B.A., L.L.B.
| NPS-18 |
| 2. Assistant Secretary | B.A., L.L.B./ By promotion | NPS-17 |
| 3. Editor PLJ. | B.A., L.L.B.
| NPS-18 |
| 4. Associate Editor PLJ. | NPS-17 | |
| 5. Superintendent. | NPS-16 | |
| 6. Account Officer. |
| NPS-17 |
| 7. (Private Secretary) Stenographer | NPS-15 | |
| 8. Computer Operator | NPS-14 | |
| 9. Assistant. | NPS-11 | |
| 10. Assistant Accountant |
| NPS-11 |
| 11. Telephone Operator | NPS-7 | |
| Clerk. |
| NPS-5 |
| 13. Proof Reader PLJ. | NPS-5 | |
| Peon/Chaukidar/Sweeper. | NPS-1 |