Info panel says ACRs not confidential

Annual Confidential Reports (ACRs) and the proceedings of Departmental Promotions Committees (DPCs) are no longer the preserve of a select few.

They are part of public records and should be available to officials "" and even the general public "" for perusal, if so desired, under the Right to Information Act.

This ruling by the information commissioner in Tripura on September 4 could snowball into a major issue as far as the bureaucracy is concerned.

In the particular case, the government of Tripura had used a letter from the Union Ministry of Personnel to deny such information to Barun Kumar Sahu, a 1992-batch IAS officer, who first applied to the state Public Information Officer (PIO).

"Since the information relating to ACRs is personal, it amounts to causing unwarranted invasion of the privacy of an individual; it is protected by virtue of being personal in nature...," the union government had told the Tripura government.

Thus, the PIO neither passed an order nor allowed the official to inspect the records. After 30 days, Sahu appealed to the commissioner, the next higher official, under the RTI. He disallowed the appeal, forcing Sahu to approach the state information commissioner.

In his order, the chief information commissioner said, "This is just an opinion of the union ministry and not an order of the central government."

He relied upon a 1971 circular issued by the department of personnel and training (DoPT) of the central government, that had clarified that "a gist of the good points and the entire adverse remarks contained in an ACR may be communicated to the officer concerned, thereby recognising that the very nature of ACRs and DPC recommendations requires them to be made public."

The commissioner further said: "The service records of a public servant are maintained for his services rendered in public interest. Therefore, they cannot be termed to be in personal interest."

Citing principles of "natural justice" and the "spirit of transparency," the commission ruled that an official could also peruse the recommendations and decision of the DPC in matters of promotion or non-promotion.

The logical implications of the ruling are manifold and far-reaching. Now, government servants can view not only the review of their work by their seniors, but also the ACRs of their colleagues. In fact, the public now has the right to go through the ACRs of all government servants.

This will make it difficult for any government to cite "secret" notings in ACRs to deny officials promotions, especially at senior levels.