194. (a) The head of the relevant Ministry and the organization or the head of service personnel organization of the relevant department may, if a departmental enquiry is needed to be made, form and assign the Departmental Enquiry Board as prescribed in Form (6) according to the rank of the service personnel who is taken action.
(b) The authority to form the Departmental Enquiry Board prescribed in the sub-rule (a) may be delegated and conferred as appropriate to facilitate the formation of the board in the service organization as may be necessary.
(c) In forming the Departmental Enquiry Board:
(i) the board shall comprise with the total number of three members – the chairperson and two other members. The members of the board shall not be the persons who are the members of the Preliminary Enquiry Board. In addition,their rank should not be lower than the service personnel who is taken action;
(ii) the members of the board shall not be the persons who have personal interest in the case, who are directly or indirectly involved in the case, who are personally concerned or who are malicious persons in respect of the case.
(d) The order of formation of the Departmental Enquiry Board shall be sent to the chairperson and the members of the board. The facts to be enquired about the service personnel who is taken action shall be mentioned in the order and the documents, accounts and evidence related to the case, if any, shall also be attached with the order. The date on which the report to be submitted by the Departmental Enquiry Board shall also be specified in the order. In complicated cases, sufficient time for the reporting shall be specified for the completion of the enquiry.
(e) When the original Departmental Enquiry Board is needed to be reformed with new members for any reason, one or two of the members may be replaced or the new board may be reformed and assigned thereto.
(f) In an important case or a case in which specific technical matters are needed to be dealt with, any technician may be appointed as an enquiring officer from the side of the department. Such enquiring officer is only to assist the Departmental Enquiry Board and has no authority to interrogate the witnesses and shall not be involved in decision making of the board.