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Journalism of Courage
NEW DELHI, AUG 29: The Supreme Court has ruled that any adverse remark in the confidential reports CRs of an officer by his superior cannot be made on the basis of his handling of a particular case but by taking into account an quot;objectivequot; view of the material about his overall performance.
quot;The CRs of an officer are basically the performance appraisals8230; and go to constitute a vital service record in relation to his career advancement. Any adverse remark in the CRs can mar the entire career of the officer,quot; a division bench said in a recent judgement.
Allowing an appeal by a MP sessions judge against the order of a Jabalpur bench of the HC directing an quot;adverse entryquot; in his CRs for not being able to conclude trial in a case within four months as directed by the HC, the Apex Court held that the appellant appeared to have had quot;some real difficulty in this regardquot;. It said the sessions judge faced difficulty in securing the presence of witnesses and the defence also contributed in delaying the trial asthe public prosecutor was the additional director of the district prosecution branch.
quot;It is necessary that in the event of a remark being called for in the CRs, the authority directing this must first come to the conclusion that the fact-situation is such that it is imperative to make such remarks to set right the wrong done by the officer concerned,quot; the Apex Court observed.
