Integrity, impartiality, non partisanship and objectivity

The first principle

Discretion is the officer's real power, and these four values are what make that discretion safe. Integrity keeps the officer's own interests out of the decision, impartiality keeps personal ties out, non partisanship keeps party loyalty out, and objectivity keeps prejudice out. What remains is a decision that any citizen, of any party or group, can accept as fair. The note on aptitude and foundational values gives the overview of all eight; this note goes inside the first four.

The core

• Integrity means wholeness: the same standards in private and in public, whether or not anyone is watching. It is wider than honesty about money, because it also covers honesty with facts, with superiors and with oneself.
• Impartiality means treating every citizen by the same rule, so that a decision would not change if the applicant were a stranger instead of a relative, a neighbour or a member of one's own community.
• Non partisanship means serving every lawfully elected government with the same energy and frankness, and never letting a party's interest replace the public interest. It does not mean having no political opinion, only keeping that opinion out of the work.
• Objectivity means deciding on evidence and reasons, which is why a written, reasoned order is its everyday form.

Dimensions

• Integrity as complete refusal. A partial compromise is never small, because the first favour creates an obligation and the next refusal becomes harder, as the visual below shows. This is why integrity is tested by the readiness to refuse completely, at the first step, when refusal is cheapest. It also explains why integrity empowers the officer: a person with no price cannot be pressured, so she is free to decide on merit.
• Courage of conviction is integrity under pressure. It needs two things together, sound values and the courage to bear their cost, and either without the other fails.

In practice

• Central Civil Services (Conduct) Rules, 1964, Rule 3(1), as amended in November 2014: every government servant must maintain absolute integrity and political neutrality, promote merit, fairness and impartiality, make decisions on merit alone, and act with fairness and impartiality without discriminating against anyone, particularly the poor and the under privileged.
• E. P. Royappa v State of Tamil Nadu (1974): the Supreme Court held that equality is the opposite of arbitrariness, so a partial decision also violates Article 14.
• S. N. Mukherjee v Union of India (1990): a Constitution Bench held that reasoned decisions promote fairness, transparency and judicial review, though the duty to record reasons depends on the applicable law and the nature of the decision. Reasons make objectivity checkable.
• Vineet Narain v Union of India (1997) and Prakash Singh v Union of India (2006): the Court sought to insulate the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) and the police from political control, through the Central Vigilance Commission (CVC) and fixed tenures, because non partisanship needs institutional protection.
• Whistle Blowers Protection Act, 2014: it provides a channel and protection for those who disclose wrongdoing, though it has not yet come into force. The killing of Satyendra Dubey, an engineer with the National Highways Authority of India who had complained about corruption in highway contracts, in 2003 is the case usually linked to the demand for such a law.
• Examples: an officer who scores tenders by a published matrix and records why each bid lost is practising objectivity. A district officer who gives an opposition rally and a ruling party rally the same conditions for permission is practising non partisanship.

Issues and way forward

• Fear of reprisal silences officers who see wrongdoing, because protection on paper is weak in practice. The Whistle Blowers Protection Act, 2014 has not come into force: the government told Parliament on 11 December 2025 that no notification bringing it into force had been issued. Bringing it into force, with real secrecy for the complainant's identity, is the fix.
• Pressure arrives orally and so leaves no trace. Rule 3(2) of the conduct rules already asks an officer acting under a superior's direction to obtain it in writing, or to get written confirmation soon after, and officers should insist on this.
• Hidden biases survive because officers rarely review their own reasoning. Structured criteria, panels with diverse members and written reasons all reduce bias.

Common confusions

• Integrity and honesty. Honesty is telling the truth and not stealing. Integrity is the consistency of the whole person, so an officer can be honest in money and still lack integrity by bending facts for a superior.
• Neutrality and indifference. Non partisanship is neutrality between parties, not indifference to the policy. An officer must still give frank advice and then implement the decision with commitment.
• Objectivity and impartiality. Objectivity concerns how the facts are judged; impartiality concerns how the people are treated. A decision can be impartial to all but still wrong on the facts.

For the exam

• Keyword bank: integrity, wholeness, complete refusal, slippery slope, courage of conviction, impartiality, arbitrariness, non partisanship, political neutrality, frank advice, objectivity, reasoned order, confirmation bias, whistle blowing.
• Previous year questions: Practise the previous year questions on this topic →
• Introduction lines:
  • Since the 2014 amendment, Rule 3 of the Central Civil Services (Conduct) Rules requires every officer to maintain absolute integrity and political neutrality and to decide on merit alone.
  • In E. P. Royappa (1974), the Supreme Court held that equality and arbitrariness are sworn enemies, which makes impartiality a constitutional duty.
• Conclusion lines:
  • These values cost the officer something, and institutions such as fixed tenure and written orders exist so that the cost is bearable.
  • An officer who cannot be bought, bent or captured is the citizen's best guarantee that discretion will serve the public.