A little more hardworking media is desired.

The recent news of surrender of Secretaries by the cabinet has generated lot of debate in the Bhutanese society, both online and in the mainstream media, questioning the powers of the Cabinet to independence of the constitutional bodies in the country. While, many including most media seemed  to have assumed that the Secretaries were ripped of their post, the Cabinet decision did not explicitly in anyway indicated that the Secretaries were ripped of their post as they have used only the word “Surrender” and not any other terms
mentioned in the laws and by laws related to bureaucrats such as "Dismissed, suspend, terminated" etc.  Further, Cabinet clearly stated that they were surrendered to the RCSC for action. Thus, it seems to indicate that, the onus for action was actually given to RCSC for taking action against  the alleged persons.And the Commission has not shied away from it, it has already looked into the case and came up with a decision. 

The RCSC has accordingly looked at the alleged failures on the part of these officials to take actions. RCSC being now one of the Constitutional Bodies is ought to follow the procedures laid down by the Constitution itself as well as laws enacted thereunder. The Commission has no authority is take any decisions without fulfilling the provisions of the laws of the country. Therefore, after looking at the case and laws in place, the Commission indicated that, there are few steps which the cabinet might have missed in their first instance which are essential for the Commission to take further action.

It does in no way seem that, RCSC is trying to act contrary to orders of the Cabinet nor seem to show its independence, instead it seems to show that every institution is respecting the Rule of Law, the cabinet as well the commission. The Commission has not throw the ball in Cabinet's court as speculated by the Kuensel Editorial, rather Commission has asked the Cabinet to provide some information to help the commission to take the next decision. Cabinet has not taken any decision that would let these senior officers to leave the service nor has the RCSC taken decisions that undermines the decision of the cabinet. There can be no perfect step in every decision. That seems to have happened between the cabinet and the RCSC which is quite well indicated by the cabinet as they assured willingness to work as per the decision of the Commission. This, rules out any indication of any tussle or negative perceptions on the power and functions of both the cabinet and the commission.  

Unfortunately, our media and many Bhutanese seemed to indicate and assume that these senior officers were terminated from the service by the cabinet and now  RCSC is protecting them by re-instating them into the service which is wrong. The issue seems to get politicized. There seems to be lack of adequate effort from media in understanding the Rule of Law in the country.Media must remember that by constitution, any allegation must have prima facie and decisions must in accordance with the due process of law. 

Bhutan is guided by the Constitution and every citizen has  a right of equal protection under the law. Thus, Rule of Law is the most fundamental element for any democracy to succeed. It is therefore, paramount that, every institution must function within the framework of the law. There may be instances where laws are interpreted differently by different individuals or groups of people. For that reason, the Supreme Court is instituted as the final interpreter of the laws in the country. Therefore, any person, legal or natural person has the right to approach the Supreme Court or also have the option of reconciling the differences in the best interest of the nation.

Civil servants are governed by two laws, the Civil Service Act which is enacted by the Parliament under the Article 26 of the Constitution and Bhutan Civil Service Act Rules passed by the Commission under various provisions of the Act. The termination of civil servant is an administrative decision and hence, there are administrative steps to be followed first and if any civil servant is not satisfied by the administrative decision, he or she also has the right to seek the justice through the court of law. There are steps to initiate any disciplinary action against any civil servant. By Constitution, every person is innocent until proven guilty. 

The administrative decisions are supposed to be taken on basis of principle of natural justice.  The principle of Audi alteram partem (Opportunity to be heard) being most important. Bhutan Civil Service Rule is based on this principle.  This principle is not mere about of hearing the other party, it is also about due process of law. Due process of law is defined as “the conduct of legal proceedings according to established rules and principles for the protection and enforcement of private rights, including notice and the right to a fair hearing before a tribunal with the power to decide the case” (Black Law Dictionary). It is therefore, nothing wrong with the Commission to ask the Cabinet to fulfill any procedure as Cabinet may not be aware of all the provisions of Civil Service Rules and also RCSC is the final interpreter of their Rules, so they can always ask parties to provide additional inputs.

However, the recent speculations and reports of media are not encouraging. Such reports could instil the sense among the general populations specially those ignorant of law that there is a chaos in the country between the politicians and the executive which is not the case. General population may think that, these institutions are working to oppose and undermine each other’s independency. Such reports, if continued over period of time, could set a bad precedence and wrong perception among the general population which could ultimately instil distrust  in the minds of the people about the institutions we have and above all, the special gift from the throne. We expect the media to be little more broad and liberal in such cases and handle with little more sensitively in the interest of the nation than grabbing onto creating headlines. The interest of the nation must override any individual benefits and interests.