Summary
An Indian Express review of the immovable property returns of 102 of India's 131 Secretary-level officials found wide gaps in what is disclosed, including missing dimensions and values. Rules require annual filing and public posting, but no dedicated body systematically audits the contents and fresh rules under Section 44 of the Lokpal Act remain unnotified years after the 2016 amendment.
The findings do not show wrongdoing by any officer; they raise the question of whether disclosure without a required format or checks can serve its anti-corruption purpose.
WHY IT MATTERS FOR UPSC & STATE PCS
On 2 November 2026, the Indian Express published its review of the immovable property returns of 102 of 131 Secretary-level officials, using returns posted on official portals on 31 March 2026. The review reported that many entries lacked area or current value and that the Cabinet Secretariat and the Department of Personnel and Training did not answer questions on checks and on rules under Section 44 of the Lokpal Act.
Standard News
The Return Was Filed. What Was Disclosed? Rule
16(2) of the All India Services (Conduct) Rules, 1968 requires every officer to submit an annual return of immovable property by 31 January. Since 2011, these returns have also been placed in the public domain. The text secures filing and publication.
It does not ensure that a reader can learn anything useful from what is published. The Indian Express reviewed the latest returns of 102 of 131 Secretary-level officials. It counted 244 self-acquired properties, 115 with no area or dimensions and 115 with no current value.
In place of a value, the newspaper found phrases such as not known or not assessed. None of this establishes wrongdoing. It does show the limit of what the system can reveal.
Two Disclosure Regimes, Two Legal Foundations
The real gap lies in where each duty comes from. A candidate's asset disclosure rests on the voter's right to know, which the Supreme Court has located within Article 19(1)(a), the freedom of speech and expression. The Court in 2018 extended it to sources of income.
The public stands at the centre of that duty. An officer's return rests on a different foundation: a conduct rule, with public posting added through a 2011 administrative instruction. Here the reader is more of an onlooker in a relationship between a government and its employee.
In Girish Ramchandra Deshpande v. CIC (2012), the Supreme Court treated an official's assets as personal information under Section 8(1)(j) of the RTI Act, disclosable only where a larger public interest is established.
Parliament did try to build a stronger foundation. Section 44 of the Lokpal and Lokayuktas Act originally required every public official to declare all movable and immovable assets. The 2016 amendment left the form and manner to rules.
Those rules have still not been notified. The law now says officials must declare, but provides no prescribed way of doing it.
Why an Unchecked Return Deters Little
The only firm penalty works at the point of filing: an officer who misses the return is denied vigilance clearance, which affects empanelment and promotion. No dedicated body systematically audits accuracy. A return marked not assessed can therefore satisfy the system while telling the public little.
Deterrence depends on the risk of being found out. A false or vague entry carries little of that risk if nobody compares this year's return with last year's or a declared property with its registered value. Privacy and security are genuine concerns.
Officers handling sensitive work and their families have good reason not to publish exact addresses. But those concerns support careful redaction from public view, not an absence of checks. In the United States, senior officials' financial reports are reviewed by agency ethics officials before release.
Review and publication are separate steps and India has built mainly the second.
Quick Facts
Key numbers & takeaways — revise these first
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Officials whose latest returns were reviewed by the Indian Express: 102 of 131.
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Self-acquired properties in those returns, by the newspaper's count: 244.
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Properties with no area or dimensions: 115.
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Properties with no current value: 115.
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Rule 16(2) of the All India Services (Conduct) Rules, 1968 requires an annual immovable property return by 31 January.
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Returns must be placed in the public domain by 31 March.
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Public disclosure began in 2011.
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Failure to file an annual return leads to denial of vigilance clearance.
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Section 8(1)(j) of the RTI Act exempts personal information from disclosure unless a larger public interest is shown.
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Supreme Court judges' asset declarations were published on the court's website in May 2025.
Connect the dots for your UPSC preparation.
Standard news covers the event. Log in to read our comprehensive analysis and uncover the hidden constitutional, structural, and ethical dimensions of this topic:
How a conduct rule and a voter's fundamental right produce two very different disclosure regimes
Where the 2016 change to Section 44 left the law and why the unnotified rules matter
A privacy-respecting design that separates what the public sees from what an auditor checks
The US Office of Government Ethics model and the limits of importing it
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