THE STATE PUBLIC SERVICE GENERAL ORDERS, 1996

Chapter:Chapter 4
Chapter Heading:CONDUCT AND DISCIPLINE
Part No.:Part 1
Part Heading:CONDUCT
GO No.:161
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Serious pecuniary indebtedness 		161. - (1) An officer shall not in any manner whatsoever cause himself to be in a serious pecuniary indebtedness.

(2) Without prejudice to paragraph (1), an officer shall be deemed to be in serious pecuniary indebtedness-

(a) where the aggregate of an officer's unsecured debts and liabilities at any given time exceeds six times the total sum of his monthly emoluments;

(b) where the officer is a judgment debtor, and the judgment debt has not been settled within one month of the date of the judgment; or

(c) where the officer is a bankrupt or an insolvent wage earner, for so long as he remains an undischarged bankrupt or the bankruptcy order made against him has not been annulled.

(3) Serious pecuniary indebtedness from whatever cause, other than as a result of unavoidable misfortune not contributed to in any way by the officer himself, shall be regarded as necessarily impairing the efficiency of an officer, and shall render him liable to disciplinary action.

(4) Where serious pecuniary indebtedness has occurred as a result of unavoidable misfortune, the Government may, in its discretion, give to the officer such assistance as the circumstances appear to warrant.

(5) If an officer finds that his debts cause, or are likely to cause, serious pecuniary indebtedness to him, he shall forthwith report this fact to his Head of Department.

(6) An officer who fails or delays in reporting his serious pecuniary indebtedness, or who reports the same but fails to disclose its full extent or gives false or misleading account thereof, shall be guilty of a serious breach of discipline (whatever the first cause of the indebtedness may be), and may render himself liable to disciplinary action.

(7) Without prejudice to this General Order, where an officer's debts amount to serious pecuniary indebtedness but he has not been adjudged a bankrupt or an insolvent wage earner, the Head of Department shall review his case annually and a report thereon submitted to the State Secretary.

(8) For the purpose of these General Orders, the expression "serious pecuniary indebtedness" means the state of an officer’s indebtedness which, having regard to the amount of debts incurred by him, has actually caused serious financial hardship to himself.