COMMUNICATION AND EFFECT OF SANCTION

370. [Deleted].

371. [Deleted].

372. All financial sanctions or orders relating to financial matters must be in writing. Verbal and telegraphic orders are to be deprecated as being liable to misapprehension, but in cases where such orders are given, they should ordinarily be confirmed in writing as soon as possible thereafter. An officer who acts on oral instructions of a superior authority will not be allowed to plead those instructions if an irregularity is committed. If, however, he has acted on a written order, the responsibility for any irregularity will be transferred to the authority who gave the order.

373. The Accountant General is entitled to receive a copy of an order sanctioning expenditure or a sanction which is otherwise to be enforced in Audit, from the authority which is competent to accord that sanction. All letters or orders conveying financial sanctions to the Accountant General must be signed by an authorized gazetted officer.

374. If the sanctioning authority is a department of Government and if under rules applicable to it, the sanction requires previous consultation with, or the previous consent of the Finance Department, the copy of the order sent to the Accountant General should be issued from the Finance Department. If in any case an order conveying a sanction requiring consultation with or the consent of the Finance Department has been communicated to the Accountant General direct by the sanctioning administrative department, the Accountant General will bring the matter to the notice of the Finance Department which will issue suitable instruction.

NOTES—(1) If the sanction of Government in the Finance Department is required by any rule, and it has not been received from that department, the Accountant General will similarly bring the fact to the notice of the Finance Department.

(2) The functions of the Finance Department are defined in the Financial Handbook, Volume I.

375. The powers of Government on matters in respect of which a consultation with the Finance Department is not prescribed by a rule or order, or the consent of that department is not required to be specifically obtained before the powers are exercised, ordinarily vest in administrative department of Government, and orders issued under such powers are communicated to the Accountant General by the administrative department concerned direct.

375-A. Unless otherwise provided by any special rule or orders of Government, a higher authority may exercise the powers delegated to an authority subordinate to it in respect of financial matters with which that authority is administratively concerned.

375-B. All letters or memoranda conveying sanction to the grant of additions to pay, such as special pay and compensatory allowance, should contain a brief but clear summary of the reasons for the grant of the addition so as to enable the Accountant General to see that it is correctly classified as special pay or compensatory allowance, as the case may be. In cases in which an official record in an open letter is considered undesirable, the reasons for grant of such additions to pay, should be communicated confidentially to the Accountant General. A similar procedure should also be followed in all other cases in which the rules require that reasons for grant of special concessions or allowances should be recorded.

376. Sanction accorded by Government to grants of land and alienation of land revenue other than those in which assignments of land revenue are treated as cash payments, should be communicated to the Accountant General in a consolidated monthly return giving details necessary for enabling the Accountant General to audit the sanction accorded.

377. Statutory rules made by Government have effect from the date on which they are passed, unless otherwise directed, and executive orders issued by Government or a subordinate authority take effect, unless otherwise directed, from the date of issue of the memo., letter or telegram in which the sanction is conveyed.

377-A. Except as provided in paragraph 380, an order of Government, in the absence of any indication to the contrary in the order itself will lapse only if and when it is superseded by an order of a later date.

378. (Deleted).

379. (Deleted).

380. A sanction for any fresh charge which has not been acted upon for a year, must be held to have lapsed, unless it is renewed.

NOTES—(1) This rule does not apply to a case where an allowance sanctioned for a post or a class of Government servants has not been drawn by a particular incumbent or incumbents, nor does it apply to additions made gradually from year to year to a permanent establishment under a general scheme which has been sanctioned by competent authority. Also it does not apply to an estimate for any public work governed by paragraph 380 of the Financial Handbook, Volume VI.

(2) The rule does not cover sanctions for refund which are not in the nature of a fresh charge and are governed by a different set of rules contained in departmental manuals.

Explanation—(1) The period of one year should be calculated from the date of issue of the sanction and the sanction should be considered to have been acted upon if payment in whole or in part has been made in pursuance of the sanction within twelve months from the date of its issue. In cases in which part payment has been made within the stipulated period, the subsequent payment of the balance may, subject to the existence of budget provision, be made without a fresh expenditure sanction. The bill for subsequent payment, besides containing a reference to the expenditure sanction, should also contain a reference to the number and date of the voucher under which the first payment was made.

Explanation—(2) Where there is a specific provision in a sanction that the expenditure would be met from the budget provision of a specified financial year, such sanction will lapse on the expiry of the specified financial year.

Explanation—(3) The provisions in this rule are of a general nature and apply to all sanctions in respect of any expenditure.