Can civil servants express their views on law, governance?

Source: The post is based on the article “Can civil servants express their views on law, governance?” published in The Hindu on 2nd September 2022.

What is the News?

A senior IAS officer from Telangana tweeted from her personal account in support of Ms. Bilkis Bano and questioned the Gujarat government’s decision of releasing 11 men convicted on charges of gang-raping during the 2002 Gujarat riots.

This has prompted a debate about whether the officer breached the Civil Service (Conduct) Rules of 1964 and revived the debate about civil servants’ right to express their personal views on matters of law and governance.

Can Civil Servants express their personal views on matters of law and governance?

The citizens of this country have the fundamental right of free speech guaranteed by the Constitution, subject to reasonable restrictions.

Hence, civil servants also have the right to tweet but disciplinary rules prevent a government servant from becoming a member of a political organization or expressing herself freely with regard to anything that has to do with the governance of the country.

But in a democracy, the right to criticize the government is a fundamental right and nobody can muzzle that.

What are the court’s judgements related to this?

Lipika Paul v. The State Of Tripura: The court said that a civil servant (the petitioner) is not devoid of her right to free speech, a fundamental right which can be curtailed only by a valid law. However, this is subject to the civil servant not crossing the borders laid down in the Conduct Rules.

​​Kerala High Court Judgement: The court said that one cannot be prevented from expressing his views merely because he is an employee. In a democratic society, every institution is governed by democratic norms.

What is Rule 9 of the Central Civil Services (Conduct) Rules?

Rule 9 says that “No Government servant shall make any statement of fact or opinion, which has the effect of an adverse criticism of any current or recent policy or action of the Central Government or a State Government”.

Does Rule 9 violate Article 19 of the Indian Constitution?

No, Rule 9 does not violate Article 19. This is because freedom of speech is given in the Constitution, but these are Conduct Rules and they are imposed because there has to be some discipline in an organization for that organization to function.