New Delhi, Dec 16: All Indian Police Service (IPS) officers nationwide have been instructed by the Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) to turn in their Immovable Property Return 2023 by January 31 of the following year. The Ministry directed all state governments and Union Territories (UTs) Chief Secretaries and the Director General of Police (DGP) to file the Immovable Property Return for the year 2023 online by January 31, 2024, at the latest, at https://ips.gov.in or https: /sparrow-ips.eoffice.gov.in using the user’s existing nic-e-Mail ID and password. The written note was distributed at the beginning of this week.A reminder that under Rule 16(2) of the All India Services (Conduct) Rules, 1968, each member of the service must file their Immovable Property Return (IPR) in the prescribed form by January 31 of each year for the previous year ending December 31 was included in the note headed “Online filing of Immovable Property Return (IPR)-2023 by IPS officers” that was sent out on December 11. In this regard, the note made reference to a “User Manual” that can be found on the SPARROW (Smart Performance Appraisal Report Recording Online Window) welcome page and serves as a guide for filling out the online Immovable Property Return (IPR).The notice stated that “the Immovable Property Return for the year 2023 online, upon filing, must be authenticated by means of the Digital Signature Certificate (DSC) previously issued under SPARROW.” The note made it clear that “Immovable Property Returns filed in any other form shall not be accepted.” The note states that all IPS officers must file an Immovable Property Return in accordance with Rule 16 of the All India Services (Conduct) Rule, 1968. It further states that if an officer does not file the IPR (online) within the allotted time frame, their vigilance clearance will be revoked in accordance with Department of Personnel and Training Office Memorandum No.104/76/2022-AVD.IA dated September 28, 2022.The MHA note also reminded readers that appointments at the next pay level in the pay matrix are contingent upon timely submission of IPR, per a DoPT notification dated December 30, 2021. “The Ministry of Home Affairs will not consider any request for a pardon for a delay in filing an IPR.” “It is requested that these instructions may be widely circulated to all concerned officers for strict compliance,” the note continued, outlining all the guidelines. The note stated, “Grievances regarding any difficulty gaining access to the IPR module through SPARROW should be directed to [email protected] or [email protected.”
