Annual Confidential Reports – Customs Chief loses case in Supreme Court
The only means through which a Government boss controls his subordinates is Annual Confidential Report (ACR) and may be an equally powerful force is transfer. Promotion is the ultimate goal of a government servant, may be next to posting. Originally ACRs were meant to correct and guide the subordinates, but over a period of time it turned out to be a threatening weapon.
If your boss makes an adverse entry in your ACR, you are entitled to know it and rebut it, but what happens if your boss gives you just a good, then you are not given an opportunity to represent that you are better than just good. So the sadistic bosses don’t give you a bad report, which you will know; but if they give you just a good, you wouldn’t know and it will hurt you when you need to be hurt most. And what happens if you go down in the merit list because your ACRs were not all that good, but were just enough to get you a promotion?
Should such ACRs be communicated to the officer? Not necessary, says the Supreme Court of India in an appeal filed by the Government against a Chief Commissioner.
Incidentally the Supreme Court is pretty fast. Can you believe it? This is Civil Appeal number 689 of 2007 decided on 12th February 2007. An appeal filed in 2007 is decided in 2007! And that too in the first fortnight of the second month of the year. The Supreme Court has set in a great precedent for the lower courts to follow.
See our Breaking News for more details of the case we report today.