Chief Vigilance Officer

A Chief Vigilance Officer (CVO) is the officer who heads the vigilance unit of a central government ministry, department, public sector enterprise, public sector bank or autonomous body, advising its Chief Executive on vigilance administration and acting as the organisation’s link with the Central Vigilance Commission. The appointment is made only in prior consultation with the Commission, which can veto the choice under paragraph 2.1 of the Vigilance Manual 2026.

Three instruments govern the post. Chapter II of the Vigilance Manual 2026, whose Foreword is dated 23 July 2026, covers appointment, tenure and assessment. Department of Personnel and Training (DoPT) Office Memorandum No. 40/1/2022-EO(CVO) dated 18 November 2022 consolidates the eligibility, selection, pay and repatriation rules for deputation posts. Commission Master Circular No. 02/MC/2026, No. 024/VGL/017-2 dated 27 July 2026, sets out what the officer does and supersedes every earlier Commission circular on the subject. The Commission’s Annual Report 2025 records 190 full-time CVO posts at paragraph 3.7.

For a central government employee the CVO matters at almost every point where integrity is tested. The CVO’s unit investigates complaints, seeks the Commission’s first stage advice, must be consulted by the disciplinary authority in every vigilance case, supplies the vigilance status used for promotion and vigilance clearance, scrutinises the immovable property returns of at least 20% of officials each year, and keeps the two watch lists, the Agreed List and the list of officers of doubtful integrity, that decide who is kept off sensitive posts.

This article covers the legal basis of the post, the four routes of appointment, the DoPT eligibility rules, tenure and pay, the APAR, the functions in Master Circular 02/MC/2026, the two watch lists, sensitive posts, periodic reports, and the rules that protect the CVO’s independence.

Legal basis of the post

The CVO post rests on executive instruction and on the Commission’s statutory power of superintendence, not on a recruitment rule. The Central Vigilance Commission Act, 2003 does not create the post. What it supplies is the Commission’s power under Section 18 to call for reports, returns and statements from the Central Government and from corporations, Government companies, societies and local authorities it owns or controls, which the Vigilance Manual 2026 cites as the basis for the Commission’s general supervision over vigilance work. The CVO is the officer through whom those reports are made.

The consultation requirement is older than the Act. Chapter I of the Vigilance Manual 2026 lists, among the residuary functions the Commission retains under the Government Resolution of 1964 that created it, item (x): “The CVO in Central Government Organisations is to be appointed in consultation with the Commission and no person whose appointment as the CVO is objected to by the Commission will be so appointed.” Item (xi) gives the Central Vigilance Commissioner the assessment of the CVO’s work, recorded in the officer’s APAR.

Paragraph 1.1.3 of the Manual puts the CVO in the organisation’s chain of responsibility. The responsibility for probity, fairness and transparency vests with the Chief Executive, which the Chapter II introduction defines as the Secretary of a ministry or department and the Chairman cum Managing Director, Managing Director or equivalent of any other organisation. The CVO assists the Chief Executive and “also acts as an extended arm of the Commission”. The same paragraph obliges the Chief Executive to fill vacancies in the vigilance unit, and hold a structured meeting with the CVO every quarter, and expects the Chief Executive to review vigilance work at least quarterly.

Full-time, part-time and encadred CVOs

The Manual recognises three kinds of CVO, and the kind decides who may hold the post and how far the insider bar applies.

Full-time CVO. Paragraph 2.1 states that large organisations should have a full-time CVO, meaning an officer with no other responsibility, who “should ordinarily be an outsider appointed for a fixed tenure on deputation terms” under the DoPT OM of 18 November 2022. Where an organisation lacks full-time vigilance work, the CVO may be given functions that serve as input to vigilance, but should not be involved in decision-making with clear vigilance sensitivity.

Part-time CVO. Under paragraph 2.2, the CVO duties of a ministry or department may be entrusted to one of its own officials on a part-time basis with the Commission’s approval. A small organisation under a ministry that has no official senior enough may have vigilance functions entrusted to a suitable official under intimation to the Commission. The Annual Report 2025, at paragraph 3.8, records that part-time officers are approved from a panel proposed by the organisation under Commission notice No. 022-CVO-08 dated 21 March 2022, and that the Commission approved 169 part-time appointments during 2025.

Encadred CVO. Paragraph 2.4 names the Central Board of Direct Taxes, the Central Board of Indirect Taxes and Customs, the Department of Posts and the Ministry of Railways (Railway Board) as organisations with an encadred full-time CVO post. The organisation sends the Commission a panel of officers of adequate seniority in order of preference with bio-data and complete APAR dossiers, and appoints one officer from the panel the Commission approves.

A proposal for a part-time CVO, or for giving one CVO additional charge of another organisation, must carry six particulars under paragraph 2.3: the official’s tenure in the present post, any other additional CVO charges held, whether the two organisations share a headquarters, a profile of the organisation including its staff strength and annual case count, an order of preference with no conflicting charge, and the official’s own profile.

Who appoints the CVO

The appointing authority depends on the type of organisation. The table combines Chapter II of the Vigilance Manual 2026 with paragraphs 3.7 and 3.8 of the Commission’s Annual Report 2025.

For bank posts, paragraph 2.6(i) of the Manual makes Chief General Managers and General Managers of public sector banks, Chief General Managers of the Reserve Bank of India and Executive Directors of public sector financial institutions eligible if they have at least three years of residual service. Executive Directors of the Life Insurance Corporation may apply only for CVO posts in public sector insurance companies, and paragraph 2.6(i) closes with the rule that “Such officials are not eligible to apply for the post of the CVO in their parent organisation.”

Eligibility for a DoPT-appointed CVO post

DoPT OM No. 40/1/2022-EO(CVO) dated 18 November 2022 is the operative eligibility order. It consolidates OM No. 372/7/2016-AVD-III dated 28 April 2017 and the two pay clarifications of 1 July 2019 and 1 July 2021, and the Vigilance Manual 2026 cites it in footnotes at paragraphs 2.1, 2.5 and 2.11. Under paragraph B, three categories may apply: All India Services officers, Government of India officers who meet paragraph C, and officers of central public sector enterprises.

Source: DoPT OM No. 40/1/2022-EO(CVO) dated 18 November 2022, paragraphs C(i) to C(iii) and E(i).

The level bands track the Organised Group A Services grade structure, so the Non-Functional Selection Grade is the gate to a Director-level post and SAG pay the gate to a Joint Secretary-level post. Paragraph C(iv) lists the experience the selectors weigh: personnel, administrative vigilance, investigation, legal and public procurement work.

Disqualifications and the insider bar

Paragraph C of the 2022 OM adds seven conditions that remove otherwise eligible officers.

• APAR benchmark. At least “Very Good” in the APAR grading of the last five years, with integrity beyond doubt (C(v)).
• Seniority ceiling. An officer whose batch has been empanelled for Additional Secretary or equivalent is not considered (C(vi)).
• Age. Not more than 54 years on 1 April of the financial year in which applications are considered, for an officer coming directly from the cadre (C(vii)); the limit “may be considered to be fixed at 56 years” where the extension of deputation is sought through a lateral shift or from an existing Central Staffing Scheme or non-Central Staffing Scheme posting (C(viii)).
• Clean record. Any major or minor penalty imposed in the career after disciplinary proceedings makes the officer ineligible (C(ix)). A minor penalty such as a censure is enough.
• Cooling off. The officer must have completed the cooling-off period in the parent cadre (C(x)).
• Joining. An officer selected who does not join in time has the appointment cancelled and is debarred from all central deputation, including the Central Staffing Scheme, for five years from the appointment order, and from cadre clearance for foreign assignments during that period, after a notice through the cadre controlling authority (C(xi)).
• Insider bar. “An officer will not be considered for appointment as CVO in an organization to which he/she belongs.” The officer must also not have worked in the preceding three years in any office with direct official dealings with the organisation, and the cadre controlling authority must name every such organisation when forwarding the application (C(xiv)).

The clean-record clause has no time limit. It reads “imposed in their careers”, so a censure from the first years of service makes the officer ineligible for the rest of the career.

Selection through the CVO offer list

DoPT runs CVO selection on the Central Staffing Scheme model. Under paragraph 2.5(ii) of the Vigilance Manual 2026, DoPT asks the cadre controlling authorities of the organised services and the public sector enterprises to offer officers of proven integrity. Under paragraph D of the 2022 OM, the officer applies online on the same portal used for the Central Staffing Scheme, with three options: Central Staffing Scheme only, CVO only, or both. The applicant and the cadre authority indicate a choice of location, not of organisation, and the Government reserves the final decision (C(xii) and C(xiii)).

The cadre controlling authority forwards the application with the APAR dossier to DoPT, which sends it to the Commission. Paragraph D(iii) of the OM states that the Commission’s clearance includes “clearance on suitability for ‘select organizations’”. Cleared officers go on the CVO offer list kept by the Establishment Officer, who places it before the Civil Services Board with the list of current and expected vacancies. For Deputy Secretary and Director level posts, the Establishment Officer issues the appointment order with the approval of the Minister of State (Personnel, Public Grievances and Pensions); Joint Secretary level posts follow the procedure for Joint Secretaries under the Central Staffing Scheme.

The Commission’s Annual Report 2025 records the volume of that work in one year: suitability approved for 198 officers for CVO posts, 12 cleared as full-time CVOs, 60 additional-charge proposals agreed and 169 part-time appointments approved.

A newly appointed CVO, full-time or part-time, submits a charge assumption report to the Commission immediately on taking charge, in the format attached to Commission Circular No. MISC/CDN-2/19 dated 26 August 2019 (Manual para 2.8).

Tenure, extension and repatriation

A CVO’s tenure in one organisation is three years, extendable by another two, under paragraph 2.9 of the Vigilance Manual 2026 and paragraph A(ii) of DoPT OM No. 40/1/2022-EO(CVO). The initial three years can instead be extended by a further three years on lateral transfer to another organisation, with the Commission’s prior concurrence. Both extensions are subject to the overall limit on central deputation and time away from the cadre. An officer who has served as CVO of an organisation is not considered for that post again.

DoPT’s consolidated deputation guidelines of 28 March 2024 place CVO posts in the non-Central Staffing Scheme category. An officer moving between a Central Staffing Scheme post and a non-Central Staffing Scheme post such as a CVO post is eligible for an additional two years of tenure, subject to at least two years on either post. An officer already on a Central Staffing Scheme post is normally appointed CVO for a minimum residual tenure of three years, and the application must reach DoPT, with the approval of the Minister-in-charge of the ministry where the officer is posted, at least a year before the Central Staffing Scheme tenure ends (Manual para 2.10).

Paragraph F of the 2022 OM fixes the extension timetable:

1. The administrative ministry processes the extension, or the decision not to extend, at least six months before the three years end.
2. The proposal reaches DoPT with the Commission’s concurrence or comments at least three months before.
3. A late proposal carries an explanatory note and a delay statement.
4. If the extension order is not communicated before the tenure ends, the CVO is relieved on expiry.

Paragraph H governs early return. An officer reverts on the exact date the tenure ends, or on 31 May before that date on personal grounds such as children’s education. Where the Commission refers a case of inadequate performance, lack of integrity or similar serious grounds, the Establishment Officer submits the repatriation for approval “with the condition of extended ‘cooling off’”; a proposal from the ministry or from DoPT itself needs the Commission’s comments first. Under paragraph J(ii) of the OM and paragraph 10.4 of Master Circular 02/MC/2026, an outsider CVO cannot be permanently absorbed in the same organisation, either at the end of the tenure or in continuation of it.

Short-term additional charge

When a CVO post falls vacant without a replacement, paragraph 2.11 of the Manual and paragraph G of the 2022 OM apply the Central Staffing Scheme additional-charge procedure. The ministry proposes an eligible officer of appropriate seniority, from the ministry or serving as CVO elsewhere, and sends the proposal to DoPT with the Commission’s concurrence and the Minister-in-charge’s approval. For additional charge up to one year, paragraph 2.11(i) of the Manual requires the approval of the Minister of State (Personnel, Public Grievances and Pensions) and paragraph G of the OM the approval of the Minister-in-charge of DoPT. Beyond a year, both require the Appointments Committee of the Cabinet.

The 2017 OM had set a tighter threshold, requiring the Cabinet Secretary’s approval for additional charge up to three months and the Appointments Committee of the Cabinet beyond that. The 2022 consolidation replaced it.

Paragraph 2.11(ii) prefers the CVO of another organisation under the same ministry, or an eligible ministry official, and states that “Asking a junior officer in an organisation to perform duties of CVO should be avoided.” An officer holding additional charge draws pay and perquisites only from the substantive organisation and may not request or accept any facility from the additional-charge organisation, which continues to provide office space, staff, accommodation and travel, for official duties (Master Circular 02/MC/2026, paras 11.1 to 11.3). Paragraph 11.2 says that organisation “would continue to provide” the support, listing official vehicle and “Travelling Allowance (TA) / Dearness Allowance (DA)”, where daily allowance is evidently meant.

Pay, status and perquisites

A CVO draws the pay of the level held in the cadre, not a pay attached to the post. Paragraph E(i) of DoPT OM No. 40/1/2022-EO(CVO) dated 18 November 2022 states that officers appointed at Joint Secretary, Director and Deputy Secretary level “would only draw pay at Level-14, Level-13 and Level-12 of the Pay Matrix (7th CPC) respectively according to the level at which they have been working in the cadre”, with allowances, benefits and perquisites following that level. The OM creates no allowance for the post itself.

The cut-off date comes from the Appointments Committee of the Cabinet. DoPT’s OM of 1 July 2021 records that the Committee began approving CVO appointments at Joint Secretary, Director and Deputy Secretary level in the pre-revised grade pay of Rs. 10,000, Rs. 8,700 and Rs. 7,600 on 16 September 2016. Before that date an officer could opt for the pay of the public sector post; after it, the CVO draws the matrix level held in the cadre, and the Functional Director status survives only as accommodation and travel entitlements that cannot be converted to cash.

Paragraph E(ii) applies DoPT letter No. 20011/2/2010-AIS-II dated 29 March 2012 (All India Services) and OM No. 6/8/2009-Estt.(Pay-II) dated 17 June 2010 (Central Services) to pay fixation, with the words “(applicable to the CVOs appointed before 16.09.2016)”. The 2019 OM carried the same two instruments without that qualifier.

Assessment of the CVO in the APAR

The Central Vigilance Commissioner assesses every CVO’s work, and the assessment goes into the officer’s APAR. Paragraph 2.12 of the Vigilance Manual 2026 sets three reporting chains.

Source: Vigilance Manual 2026, paragraph 2.12(i) to (iii).

Paragraph 2.12(iv) moves the Commissioner’s assessment online once the Smart Performance Appraisal Report Recording Online Window is used, through a column that DoPT is introducing in the SPARROW forms. The CVO thus reports day to day to the Chief Executive, while the final word on the CVO’s APAR rests with the Central Vigilance Commissioner.

Functions under Master Circular 02/MC/2026

Master Circular No. 02/MC/2026 on the Role and Function of Chief Vigilance Officer and Protection to Chief Vigilance Officer and other Vigilance Functionaries, issued under No. 024/VGL/017-2 dated 27 July 2026, is the single source for what a CVO does. Paragraph 2.13 of the Vigilance Manual 2026 points to it, and paragraph 2 of the circular supersedes all earlier Commission circulars, guidelines and letters on the subject. It applies from its date of issue to every ministry, department and organisation of the Central Government within the Commission’s jurisdiction.

Paragraph 3.1.2 sorts the work into punitive, preventive and participative vigilance.

Punitive vigilance

The punitive functions in paragraph 3.2 run from complaint to penalty.

• Complaints. The CVO scrutinises information from complaints, audit reports, committee reports and inspections under Master Circular No. 03/MC/2026, and investigates complaints referred by the Commission, the Central Bureau of Investigation or another competent authority within three months or any other limit that authority sets (paras 3.2.1 and 3.2.2).
• Advice. After investigation, the CVO puts specific recommendations to the competent authority and seeks the Commission’s advice under Master Circular No. 06/MC/2026 (para 3.2.3).
• Board-level appointees. A complaint against a Board-level appointee received in the organisation goes to the CVO of the administrative ministry, who acts on it; the organisation’s CVO may be asked only for a Factual Report built on records, with no analysis or conclusions (para 3.2.4, Annexure I).
• Deviation. Any deviation from the Commission’s advice is reported to the Commission at the earliest (para 3.2.5).
• Consultation at every level. The CVO “is required to be consulted by the Disciplinary Authority (DA)/Appellate Authority (AA) / Revising Authority (RA) in vigilance case(s), irrespective of the level of the official(s) involved” (para 3.2.6).
• Penalty. The CVO monitors cases where only the CVO advised, checks that the penalty is commensurate with the misconduct proved, and should recommend revision of a penalty order it is not satisfied with (para 3.2.7).
• CBI. A reference to the CBI or another law enforcement agency needs the Chief Executive’s prior approval (para 3.2.12); the CVO assists the agency and scrutinises its report (paras 3.2.13 and 3.2.14).
• Inquiries. The inquiry officer sends a monthly progress report to the disciplinary authority with a copy to the CVO, who takes up any undue delay (para 3.2.15).

Preventive and participative vigilance

Paragraph 3.3.1 lists 22 preventive measures, and five groups of them carry a figure or a named instrument.

• Property returns. Scrutiny of “Immoveable Property Returns / Assets and Liability statement, whichever is applicable, of a minimum of 20% of officials every year” (item (viii)). The returns are the documentary base of a disproportionate assets inquiry.
• Contract examination. At least six CTE-type intensive examinations of works contracts and goods procurement a year, with at least three of large value, two of medium value and one of small value, notified to the Chief Technical Examiners’ Organisation to avoid duplication (items (ix) and (x)).
• Sensitive posts. Assisting the Chief Executive to identify corruption-prone areas and sensitive posts, and ensuring rotation under Master Circular No. 09/MC/2026 (item (iii)).
• Inspections and intelligence. Regular and surprise inspections, and intelligence gathered from the CVO’s own sources (items (xi) and (xii)).
• Systems. Review of procedures and discretionary powers, use of technology, and up-to-date manuals and standard operating procedures (items (i), (ii), (iv) to (vii)).

Participative vigilance covers public awareness of the complaint mechanism, including the Public Interest Disclosure and Protection of Informers Resolution, 2004 (para 3.3.2), and observance of Vigilance Awareness Week as the Commission directs (para 3.3.3). Paragraph 1.3.6(iv) of the Manual records that the Commission has observed the week every year since 2000, timed to the birth anniversary of Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel. Paragraph 3.3.4 of the circular requires scrutiny of reports of the Comptroller and Auditor General, statutory and internal auditors, inspections and Parliamentary committees for a vigilance angle.

The Agreed List and the list of officers of doubtful integrity

The CVO prepares two watch lists, and neither is a penalty. Both are now set out in Master Circular No. 02/MC/2026 at paragraph 3.3.1(xiii) to (xxii), and inclusion on either is a ground for denying vigilance clearance.

The Agreed List triggers five actions under item (xiii): closer and more frequent scrutiny of the officer’s work where discretion is involved; a quiet check on reputation by the department and the CBI; an unobtrusive CBI watch of contacts and style of living; a secret CBI enquiry into assets and financial resources, for which the department hands over the property returns; and collection by the CBI of specific instances of bribery.

The doubtful-integrity list takes four categories under item (xvii): an officer convicted on a charge of lack of integrity or moral turpitude who escaped dismissal, removal or compulsory retirement because of exceptional circumstances; an officer given a major penalty departmentally for lack of integrity, or for gross dereliction of duty in protecting the Government’s interests where corrupt motive cannot be proved; an officer facing major penalty proceedings or a trial for acts involving lack of integrity or moral turpitude; and an officer acquitted on technical grounds where the trial evidence leaves a reasonable suspicion. Item (xviii) keeps out officers honourably acquitted or cleared, those against whom an enquiry found too little evidence even for a disciplinary case, those convicted of offences not involving integrity, and those proceeded against only for administrative lapses or minor conduct-rule breaches.

Item (xvii) speaks of the “list as mentioned in para 3.3.1 (xi)”, though item (xi) is about inspections and the list is introduced at item (xvi); the categories belong to the doubtful-integrity list.

Sensitive posts and rotation

The CVO enforces two rotation regimes. Master Circular No. 09/MC/2026, No. 024/VGL/017-9 dated 27 July 2026, governs sensitive posts across the organisation: the Chief Executive identifies them in consultation with the CVO and reviews the list every three years or earlier (para 3.3), and officials holding them “should be rotated / transferred on completion of a period of three years on such posts” (para 4.1). The rule requires a change of post, not a change of station (para 4.2), and non-implementation is reported to the Commission (para 4.4). Station transfers stay with the organisation’s own rotational transfer policy.

Paragraph 9 of Master Circular 02/MC/2026 treats every post in the vigilance unit as sensitive. A vigilance functionary is posted for three years; an extension of three months to two years needs a performance review, the CVO’s concurrence and the competent authority’s approval; and no one stays beyond five years (para 9.2). After leaving, the functionary waits at least two years before returning to vigilance work (para 9.5). Where the CVO and the competent authority disagree on retaining or moving a functionary, the Chief Executive decides, or the Board or the ministry Secretary where the competent authority is the Chief Executive (para 9.4).

Periodic reports to the Commission

Master Circular 02/MC/2026 sets a fixed reporting calendar. The Commission’s power to demand returns comes from Section 18 of the Central Vigilance Commission Act, 2003.

Every communication to the Commission is addressed to the Secretary, Central Vigilance Commission, by designation and signed by the CVO (para 3.4.2). The threshold value of contracts to be reported in the Quarterly Progress Report is fixed in Commission Circular No. 02/03/2026 dated 16 March 2026 (para 7.6). The Annexure II agenda for the quarterly meeting covers pending complaints, delayed inquiries, pending prosecution sanctions, the two watch lists, rotation figures by grade and manpower in the vigilance unit.

Independence and protection of vigilance staff

The CVO is kept out of the decisions the CVO may later judge. Paragraph 10.1 of Master Circular 02/MC/2026 bars the CVO and vigilance staff from decisions in individual works or procurement cases with financial implications and from operational duties. Paragraph 10.3 requires any such assignment to be reported to the Commission immediately. Paragraph I of the DoPT OM of 18 November 2022 states the same rule for “processing and decision-making process” with clear vigilance sensitivity. A part-time CVO’s other duties are confined, as far as possible, to work free of a vigilance angle or feeding into it, such as inspection and audit (para 10.2).

Other independence rules:

• Tours. Domestic inspections and surprise visits need only intimation to the Chief Executive, not prior approval, followed by a tour report; official visits abroad need the Commission’s prior approval (paras 5.1 and 5.2).
• Board meetings. The CVO is present when the Board reviews vigilance work, and the authority that convenes the meeting must invite the CVO (para 4.2).
• Complaints against the CVO. A complaint against a serving or former CVO about CVO work goes straight to the Commission, which decides the course of action (para 8.2).

Vigilance staff get protection that outlasts their posting. Under paragraph 8.3, staff are posted to the vigilance unit only with the CVO’s concurrence. An officer whom a functionary investigated may never write that functionary’s APAR, which goes to the next reporting level. For at least five years after leaving the unit, a functionary remains within the Commission’s purview for consultation in any disciplinary matter, and may complain through the CVO of victimisation, defined to include “transfer, denial of promotion or any administrative action not considered routine or normal”. The CVO reports real or perceived victimisation, and supersession of a deserving functionary, to the Commission.

The CVO in a disciplinary case

In a vigilance case against a central government servant under the CCS (Classification, Control and Appeal) Rules, 1965, the CVO stands between the investigation and the disciplinary authority. The Commission’s Annual Report 2025, at paragraph 2.31, records that CVOs take up the enquiry and, where a vigilance angle emerges, seek the Commission’s first stage advice. Where the Commission has no jurisdiction over the official, the CVO’s own advice serves, because paragraph 3.2.6 of Master Circular 02/MC/2026 requires the CVO to be consulted irrespective of level.

Three decisions stay with other authorities. Suspension is the disciplinary authority’s discretion, which the CVO assists (para 4.4); if the CBI recommends suspension and the authority declines, the difference goes to the Commission (para 4.5). The charge sheet, the departmental inquiry and the penalty belong to the disciplinary authority, with the CVO monitoring time limits under Master Circular No. 08/MC/2026 (para 3.2.5). For vigilance clearance and promotion, the CVO supplies the vigilance status, applying DoPT OM No. 22011/4/91-Estt(A) dated 14 September 1992 on promotion during pending proceedings and DoPT OM No. 104/33/2024-AVD-IA dated 9 October 2024 on vigilance clearance (para 4.13). The 1992 OM is the instrument behind the sealed cover procedure, so the status the CVO reports feeds a departmental promotion committee’s decision on whether to seal a recommendation.

Two further rules change the Commission’s part. Where an official is convicted on a criminal charge and action is taken under Rule 19 of the CCS (CCA) Rules, 1965, consultation with the Commission is not required, as DoPT OM No. 118/1/2005-AVD-III dated 8 April 2005 records (para 4.15). Where an appellate authority disagrees with Commission advice that the disciplinary authority had accepted, the CVO takes the case to the revising authority and reports it to the Commission (para 4.10), the route covered under appeal, review and revision.

Related Articles

• Central Vigilance Commission
• Vigilance clearance
• Vigilance angle
• Vigilance allowance
• Disproportionate assets
• Prevention of Corruption Act, 1988
• Central Bureau of Investigation
• Lokpal and Lokayuktas Act, 2013
• Whistle Blowers Protection Act, 2014
• Preliminary inquiry
• Departmental inquiry
• Inquiry officer
• Presenting officer
• Disciplinary authority
• Charge sheet and articles of charge
• Misconduct
• Suspension
• Minor penalty
• Major and minor penalty proceedings
• Dismissal and removal from service
• Compulsory retirement
• Penalty proportionality
• Appeal, review and revision under the CCS (CCA) Rules
• Sealed cover procedure
• CCS (Classification, Control and Appeal) Rules, 1965
• CCS (Conduct) Rules, 1964
• Immovable property return
• APAR
• SPARROW
• Central Staffing Scheme
• Deputation in the central government
• Deputation allowance
• Civil Services Board
• Appointments Committee of the Cabinet
• Department of Personnel and Training
• Department of Financial Services
• Ministry of Home Affairs
• Central Board of Direct Taxes
• Central Board of Indirect Taxes and Customs
• Department of Posts
• Organised Group A Services
• Non-Functional Selection Grade
• Higher Administrative Grade
• All India Services
• Pay matrix
• House rent allowance
• Rotational transfer policy
• Union Public Service Commission

External references

• Central Vigilance Commission, Vigilance Manual 2026 (large file): cvc.gov.in
• Central Vigilance Commission, Master Circular No. 02/MC/2026 on the role and function of Chief Vigilance Officers: cvc.gov.in
• Central Vigilance Commission, Master Circular No. 09/MC/2026 on sensitive posts: cvc.gov.in
• DoPT OM No. 40/1/2022-EO(CVO) dated 18 November 2022 on appointment of CVOs: doptcirculars.nic.in
• DoPT OM No. 372/7/2016-AVD-III dated 28 April 2017 (superseded consolidation): doptcirculars.nic.in
• Central Vigilance Commission, Annual Report 2025: cvc.gov.in
• Central Vigilance Commission Act, 2003: cvc.gov.in

References

1. Central Vigilance Commission, Vigilance Manual 2026, Foreword dated 23 July 2026, Chapter I paragraphs 1.1.3 and 1.3.6(iv) and the residuary functions items (x) and (xi), and Chapter II paragraphs 2.1 to 2.13.
2. Central Vigilance Commission, Master Circular No. 02/MC/2026, No. 024/VGL/017-2 dated 27 July 2026, on the Role and Function of Chief Vigilance Officer and Protection to Chief Vigilance Officer and other Vigilance Functionaries, paragraphs 3 to 11 and Annexures I and II.
3. Central Vigilance Commission, Master Circular No. 09/MC/2026, No. 024/VGL/017-9 dated 27 July 2026, on identification of sensitive posts and rotation of officials holding them, paragraphs 3.3 and 4.1 to 4.4.
4. Department of Personnel and Training, OM No. 40/1/2022-EO(CVO) dated 18 November 2022, Guidelines on procedure for appointment of Chief Vigilance Officers in Central Public Sector Enterprises and other organisations under central Ministries and Departments, paragraphs A to J.
5. Department of Personnel and Training, OM No. 372/7/2016-AVD-III dated 28 April 2017, and OMs No. 40/2/2018-EO(MM-CVO) dated 1 July 2019 and 1 July 2021, on CVO appointment, pay and allowances.
6. Central Vigilance Commission, Annual Report 2025, paragraphs 2.31, 3.5, 3.7 and 3.8.
7. Ministry of Home Affairs OM No. 130/1/66-AVD dated 5 May 1966 (Agreed List) and OM No. 105/1/66-AVD-I dated 28 October 1969 (list of public servants of gazetted status of doubtful integrity), as cited in Master Circular No. 02/MC/2026.
8. Central Vigilance Commission Act, 2003 (Act 45 of 2003), Section 18.