- (1.) This is a petition seeking judicial review of the decision making process which underlay the decision not to promote the petitioner in MMGS-II with effect from June 1, 2017. Certain facts are not in dispute. The writ petitioner was admittedly in service of the respondent no.1 and was serving in scale MMGS-III. She was entitled to be considered for promotion to scale SMGS-IV for the respondent no.1 on the principle of merit. What Mr. Soumen Das rightly points out the promotion policy which is unchallenged clearly indicates that for such a promotion (only merit channel), the following are the essential criteria:- "4.3 Promotion from MMGS-III to SMGS-IV Only Merit Channel: i) 3 years of satisfactory service in MMG Scale-III. ii) Provided the officer should have been Branch Head for at least two years in any scale. Incomplete year of six months or more would be reckoned as one year. iii) Must have secured minimum average of 70% marks in APAR for last three years of service required for eligibility for promotion."
(2.) It is also not in dispute that the promotion policy of the respondent no.1 comprises a system of self-appraisal in terms of Annexure-P-1 being the guidelines concerned. These guidelines are in reality the standards and norms which govern the respondent no.1 even though they are called guidelines. These guidelines make it clear that the system of self-appraisal includes a self-appraisal by the concerned employee who is seeking promotion a reporting to whom it is reported and the reviewing authority. Till this stage, the method of appraisal through the employee his reporting authority and the reviewing authority is unexceptionable and the judgment in the case of A.P. State Financial Corporation vs. C.M. Ashok Raju and Others reported in (1994)5 Supreme Court Cases 359 supports this. It is fairer than the system of confidential reports where one officer superior to the employee appraises the performance of his subordinates.
(3.) However, it is only thereafter that the respondent no.1 has parted company with due process. It has brought a concept of an accepting authority in terms of Clause 7 of the guidelines which reads as follows: "7. Accepting Authority The grading as awarded by the Accepting authority shall be final. However, in case, the appraisee officer is not satisfied with the final marks/grade, he/she may make representation to the Competent Authority for Grievance Redressal, as stated in point No.10 in this circular." The procedure of appraisal, therefore, comprises the following: "5. Acknowledgment "? After self-appraisal, the appraisee officer shall submit the APAR through ONLINE to the Reporting Authority. The system will generate acknowledgment of the same, in the prescribed format, to the appraisee officer for his/her records. Similarly, Reporting Authority / Review Authority and Accepting Authority will Report / Review and Accept the APAR ONLINE and submit the same ONLINE for onward transmission. Acknowledgment may be obtained from the system at every stage. The Appraisee Officer/ Executive may take a print out of his accepted APAR from the system after completion of the process. "? While submitting APAR ONLINE, the Appraisee Officer/ Executing will select the name and EMP No. of the Reporting Authority as applicable. Thereafter, for transmission of the concerned APAR to the respective authorities, Reporting Officer will select the name and EMP No. of the Review Authority who in turn would select the name and EMP No. of the Accepting authority for completion of the process. "? In case an APAR is forwarded / submitted to an authority, who is not the Appraisee's Reproting/Review/Accepting authority, the same may be rejected by the receiving authority with an intimation to the Appraisee/Reporting/ Review Authority concerned. The subject APAR will then revert back to the submitter/evaluar, who will resubmit the same to the appropriate Reporting/Review/Accepting Authority. However, it has to be ensured that the completion of APAR submission process is not delayed and be completed within the prescribed time schedule as mentioned in the above table." ;