Law: Government Servants (Efficiency and Discipline) Rules, 1973

Section: 4(1)(a)(ii)

Law: Civil Servants (Efficiency and Discipline) Rules, 2020

Section: 4(2)(d)

SUMMARY i. A larger bench of Subordinate Judiciary Service Tribunal while analyzing the scope, object and spirit of the Performance Evaluation Report(s) / Annual Confidential Report(s) has held as under:- firstly that the entries in PER are the opinion of a Reporting Officer with respect to his subordinate employee, secondly that before recording the said entries, the Reporting Officer is not required to provide an opportunity of hearing to the employee, thirdly that the PERs / ACRs are meant to evaluate the performance and suitability and not to punish an employee, fourthly that any adverse remark must be based on objective assessment and be recorded carefully and in good faith, fifthly that the primary purpose of ACR is to maintain efficiency in service and assist DPC / competent authorities in making promotion and posting decision, sixthly that PER or Confidential Report intended for administrative guidance and cannot be used arbitrarily or with malafide intention, and seventhly before recording any adverse remarks, the Reporting Officer has to resort for remedial measures like counseling, warning etc. ii. The larger bench while highlighting the duty of Reporting Officer and Countersigning Officer in the matter of PER / ACR has ultimately declared as under:- a. Before recording adverse entries in the PER/ACR, the Reporting Officer is not required to provide an opportunity of hearing to the incumbent employee, however, before recording any adverse remarks he is statutorily bound to resort to all curative and remedial measures including counseling, warning etc. and then in this regard to record its opinion in the PER in good faith and with full application of mind and sense of responsibility and the countersigning authority is also bound to make a fair assessment of the entries of the Reporting Officer made in the PERs and to form an independent opinion. b. Adverse entries in the PER including “unfitness for promotion” is not by itself a penalty rather it is an opinion of the Reporting Officer and the same can neither be termed nor treated as penalty, however, if such entries in the PER are taken and considered by the DPC / Competent Authority as…