The Supreme Court of India held that the Annual Confidential Report (“ACR”) of an officer does form a part of his or her service record and could not be ignored for the purposes of his or her promotion on the ground that it was written after some delay.
The Court even said that even if there is a prescription for a period for writing an ACR the same is not mandatory but directory in nature.
The writing and review of an ACR is beyond the control of an officer and hence they [officers] should not be in a disadvantaged position merely because their superior officers were lax in the discharge of their responsibilities, the Court said.
