You are a Sub-Divisional Magistrate (SDM) managing a district revenue office. A junior assistant submits a formal written complaint alleging that their reporting Senior Section Officer is deliberately withholding their career advancement recommendation and subjecting them to hostile verbal harassment. Simultaneously, the Senior Section Officer submits an official note claiming that the junior assistant has committed severe procedural lapses regarding missing land registry files, asserting that the grievance is a retaliatory tactic to pre-empt an impending disciplinary inquiry. A critical public land acquisition audit deadline falls in three days, requiring technical inputs from both employees. Which of the following courses of action represents the most administratively sound, ethically compliant, and effective decision for the officer in charge?
- Temporarily reassign the supervision of the junior assistant's audit duties to an independent senior officer to ensure administrative continuity, initiate a formal preliminary inquiry into the grievance as per service rules, and permit the missing files inquiry to proceed independently through due process.Cevap
- BImmediately suspend the Senior Section Officer pending investigation to demonstrate zero tolerance for workplace harassment, and order the immediate transfer of the junior assistant to a distant sub-office.
- CInformally mediate a compromise by agreeing to sign off on the junior assistant's advancement file in exchange for them withdrawing the harassment complaint and completing the audit work alongside the Senior Section Officer.
- DIssue an executive reprimand demanding both employees put aside personal grievances until the audit is completed, while deferring any grievance redressal or misconduct investigation until after project deadlines pass.