Patna, June 30: The state government has punished a 1986-batch IAS officer - who overstayed his leave for studying in a foreign country and remained absent in an unauthorised manner despite orders to immediately join duty - by withholding two salary increments over a period of two years.

Earlier, the government wanted to penalise the officer with "censure", but it was converted to withholding of salary increments on the advice of the Union Public Service Commission (UPSC).

Sources in the government said the IAS officer, ELSN Bala Prasad, posted as principal secretary to Governor Ram Nath Kovind at present, had availed various types of leaves granted to public servants from August 1, 2003, to June 30, 2008, to study in foreign countries, and had gone to the US. He joined back on duty on July 30, 2008, after remaining out of the country for 25 days during this extended period.

Attempts to contact Prasad over phone proved futile and he did not call back as promised in an SMS. Later, Prasad refused to say anything on the issue.

Prasad, a native of Andhra Pradesh, was again granted extraordinary leave and permission to visit foreign country again from September 15, 2008, to October 31, 2008. But after that he continuously remained absent from duty and kept applying for "extension of leave" till November 2009. The sources said this time too, he was in the US.

In between, the state general administration department rejected applications, seeking extension of leave and sent Prasad a letter on January 1, 2009, asking him to join duty in his cadre immediately.

"However, Prasad did not follow the government directions and presented his personal difficulties as the reasons. He reapplied for extension of leave on February 19, 2009, which was again rejected. The officer did not join even after all this and again applied for extension of leave on July 18, 2009, seeking to extend his absence till November 2009," an official of the general administration department said on condition of anonymity.

The general administration department again rejected the leave extension application and charged Prasad for remaining absent from service in an unauthorised manner and disobeying the order to join duty.

It conducted departmental proceedings against him under rule 8 of The All India Services (Discipline and Appeal) Rules, 1969. This particular rule details the procedure for imposing penalties on officers belonging to the all-India services.

During the proceedings, an official of the department conducted an inquiry into the charges and found them to be true. Based on the enquiry report and review of the reply of Prasad in the matter, the state government decided to censure against him under rule 6(1) of The All India Services (Discipline and Appeal) Rules, 1969, which prescribes minor penalties against an errant official.

The state government also sought advice from the UPSC on July 5, 2012, which is mandatory. Documents reveal that the UPSC, in its advice dated February 26, 2013, stated "withholding two salary increments for two years would be justified for Prasad".

Following the UPSC advice, the Bihar government imposed the penalty on Prasad in April 2013. The officer followed it with three revision applications between 2013 and 2014. They were duly considered by the disciplinary authority, which decided to impose the earlier penalty to censure him.

Once again, an advice was sought from the UPSC, which stated in a letter sent in May this year: "After considering all important aspects of the case, the commission is of the opinion that the revision applications submitted by the petitioner has no strength in them and the order to withhold two salary increments for two years was not much."

The sources said Prasad had gone to the US for PhD in public administration because his wife works there and stays with their daughters.

Several senior bureaucrats reacted sharply to the punishment. One of them said: "The integrity and professional competence of Prasad cannot be questioned.

He is a gem of a person. He was doing his PhD from the US, where his family stays and wanted to come back after completing his research. He had not fled from his service of country. An honest official cannot make frequent trips to the US because of the cost involved."

Another senior IAS added that Prasad overshot his leave and stayed in the US out of compulsion and had no malafide intention.

"The state government could have easily regularised or adjusted the leave period as there have been several such instances. However, it chose to punish a well meaning officer, who is known for his contribution in development works in the state," he added.