India, May 27 -- "Recklessness in decision making"; "exercise of discretion in excess where no public interest is served"; and "failure to keep superiors informed" -- these are among the irregularities that the Central Vigilance Commission (CVC) has asked chief vigilance officers to review, in addition to the usual ones such as demand for bribes, assets disproportionate to known sources of income, and straight misappropriation or cheating.

The circular, issued on May 23, seeks to ensure that this approach does not target officers taking risks or using their discretion in the course of work. It stated that commercial risk-taking is a part of business and that not every loss caused to a government organisation, financial or otherwise, need...