ARUP KUMAR DAS Vs. UNION OF INDIA

JUDGEMENT

(1.) The material facts, giving rise to the present writ petition, made under Article 226 of the Constitution of India, may, in brief, be set out as under:

(2.) The downgrading of the ACR of the petitioner, for the period 2002-2003 from 'Good' to 'Average' by the accepting authority without assigning any reason therefor, was, in effect, an adverse entry, particularly, in the context of Regulation 5(3AA) of the Promotion Regulations, which mandates classification of eligible officers as 'Outstanding', 'Very Good', 'Good' or 'Unfit' on the basis of overall assessment of the relative merit of their service records.

(3.) In the face of the classification, which is required to be made by Regulation 5(3AA), any entry, which is below 'Outstanding', is an adverse entry and it will render a person 'Unfit' for promotion to the IFS. The said moderated entry, downgrading the petitioner's ACRs from 'Good' to 'Average', for the year 2002-03, was never communicated to the petitioner at any point of time, though such an entry was an adverse entry and ought to have been communicated to the petitioner in terms of Rule 10 of the Assam Services (Confidential Rolls)Rules, 1990.