Whether uncommunicated adverse Annual confidential report of employee can be relied on for purpose of his promotion?

 The sole issue involved in this appeal is whether the uncommunicated Annual Confidential Reports (ACRs), which are adverse to the Appellant, should have been relied upon for the purpose of consideration of the Appellant for promotion.

2. In view of the decision of this Court in Sukhdev Singh v. Union of India and Ors. reported in MANU/SC/0481/2013 : (2013) 9 SCC 566, there cannot be any dispute on this aspect. This Court has settled the law that uncommunicated and adverse ACRs cannot be relied upon in the process.

IN THE SUPREME COURT OF INDIA

Civil Appeal No. 32 of 2013

Decided On: 28.08.2018

 Rukhsana Shaheen Khan Vs.  Union of India (UOI) and Ors.

Hon'ble Judges/Coram:

Kurian Joseph and Sanjay Kishan Kaul, JJ.

Citation:(2018) 18 SCC 640

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Promotion of judges in trial courts under scanner

NEW DELHI: With the Supreme Court scrutinizing Parliament's decision to replace an opaque collegium system with National Judicial Appointments Commission, the Delhi High Court has entertained a senior trial judge's petition alleging that subordinate judiciary promotions were as non-transparent and arbitrary.

The Centre has strongly defended the NJAC saying the collegium system, which operated for nearly 20 years, had an inbuilt opaqueness on criteria adopted by the team of senior-most Supreme Court judges headed by the Chief Justice of India for selecting judges for the apex court and high courts.

Almost identical allegations were made by additional district and sessions judge Sujata Kohli in her petition before the Delhi HC. Her petition reflected long standing grievances of many senior judges in subordinate judiciary who feel that promotion policies for lower court judges adopted by various high courts are arbitrary and non-transparent.A bench of Justices G S Sistani and Sangeeta Dhingra Sehgal has issued notice to the Delhi HC, asking it to file response to the allegations made by Kohli in her petition.

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