The CBIC issued Instruction No.26/2023-Customs dated September 01, 2023 on the Union Home Minister’s Special Operation Medal.
The Ministry of Home Affairs, Government of India (MHA) vide Notification No. 11024/05/2018-PMA dated July 23, 2018 (as amended vide Notification No.11024/05/2018-PMA dated August 14, 2020 and Notification No.11024/05/2018-PMA dated March 02, 2022) has instituted a medal viz. “Union Home Minister’s Special Operation Medal” to be conferred on Members State/UT Police Forces, Central Police Organizations (CPOs)/Central Armed Police Forces (CAPFS) and Security organizations throughout the Indian Union to recognize the successful conduct of the special operations involving high degree of planning, having high significance for the security of the country/State/UT and having significant impact on security of large sections of the society in the areas such as counter terrorism, border action, arms control, left wing extremism, prevention of narcotics smuggling and rescue operations. The personnel of Central Board of Indirect Taxes and Customs (CBIC) have also been made eligible for the medal vide Notification No. 11024/05/2018-PMA dated March 02, 2022 under the area “Prevention of Narcotics Smuggling”
In terms of the rules governing the award, the nomination/proposals for the said medal are to be subjected to two-tier screening. The first level of screening shall be done by the committee constituted in this regard by the Head of the Organization/ Department sponsoring the proposals (i.e. CBIC) which shall then send its recommendations to the designated Committee in MHA. Hence, the following Screening Committee is being constituted for the first level screening of the nominations/proposals of CBIC for the said medal:-
i. The Director General-Directorate of Revenue Intelligence –Chairman of the committee;
ii. The Chief Commissioner, Delhi Customs (Preventive) Zone- Member;
iii. The Commissioner (Investigation-Customs), CBIC – Member;
iv. The Additional Director General, HRM-I, Directorate General of Human Resource Development, CBIC- Member, and
v. The Additional / Joint Commissioner, O/o the Commissioner (Investigation-Customs), CBIC – Member Secretary of the Committee.
The ‘Terms of Reference” of the above said Committee will be to process and finalize nominations from CBIC for the Union Home Minister’s Special Operation Medal, in accordance with MHA Notification F.No.11024/05/2018-PMA dated July 23, 2018 as amended by Notification F.No.11024/05/2018-PMA dated August 14, 2020 and Notification F.No. 11024/05/2018-PMA dated March 02, 2022 and relevant instructions, Standard Operating Procedure (SOP) and rules governing the award issued by MHA from time to time. The said Committee will submit its recommendations to Member (Compliance-Management) for further necessary action. The final nominations will to be sent to MHA with the approval of the Chairman, CBIC.
Timelines in respect of the medal : The timelines for forwarding the nominations/proposals for the said medals shall be as follows:
|
Action / Activity |
Timeline |
|
Conduct of Special Operation. |
T (Date of conclusion of Operation) |
| Submission of Nomination to the Additional / Joint Commissioner, O/o the Commissioner (Investigation-Customs) by the Directorate/ Zone (which has conducted the special operation) with the approval of the jurisdictional head of the organization (DG or the Chief Commissioner)
The proposals should include all the Annexes (I to IV) prescribed in the SOP issued by MHA, along with all the supporting documents. |
Within T + 30 days |
|
Scrutiny of the proposal by the O/o the Commissioner (Investigations-Customs), CBIC. |
Within T + 45 days |
| Meeting of Screening Committee. |
Within T + 60 days |
|
Submission of recommendations of Screening Committee to the Member (Compliance Management), CBIC. |
T + 75 days |
| Submission of Nominations to MHA |
T + 90 days |
The Recommending Authority (Head of Directorate or the Zone) must ensure that officers nominated for the said Medal meet the eligibility criteria as defined by MHA, and the proposals submitted are strictly in consonance with the Notification F.No.11024/05/2018-PMA dated July 23, 2018 as amended by Notification F.No.11024/05/2018-PMA dated August 14, 2020 and Notification F. No. 11024/05/2018-PMA dated March 02, 2022 and relevant instructions, Standard Operating Procedure (SOP) and rules governing the award issued by MHA from time to time.
The nominations/proposals should be forwarded to the Additional / Joint Commissioner, Office of the Commissioner (Customs-Investigation), CBIC through Dak or e-mail (inv-customs@gov.in), 10th Floor, Tower-2, Jeevan Bharti Building, Parliament Street, New Delhi-110001 , within the specified time line. In case of any delay in submission of proposals, the Chairman of the Screening Committee will have discretion, to condone delay, based on the justification submitted in this regard by the Recommending Authority.
The Instructions can be accessed at: https://taxinformation.cbic.gov.in/view-pdf/1000487/ENG/Instructions