Service Law : Remarks in ACR made by Senior Officer Quashed by High Court

Service Law : Remarks in ACR made by Senior Officer Quashed by High Court

In a recent Judgment, the remarks made in ACR by a Senior Officer where senior officer has granted rating "good" instead of "very good" was found legally unsustainable. Consequently HC has set aside the observations of the senior officer and employee was held entitled to rating of "very good". The employee had argued that he had never received any warning, memo or any other communication complaining about the manner of discharge, by him, of his duties.

The judgment explains various principles related to interference by Courts in observations made by senior officers. 

It was rightly held that "if an officer has shown a consistently high standard of work before and after a particular period, and markedly adverse remarks are entered in his ACRs for that period alone, which are totally discordant with his performance after that as well as prior thereto, the Court would be justified in directing that the aberrant adverse remarks for the intervening period be ignored".

For more details refer Aabi Binju v. Union of India [2025] GCtR 1698 (Delhi).