ephemeral roll – ઇફેમેરલ રોલ – કર્મચારી ને નોટીસ આપવા માટે ખૂબ જ જરૂરી.

IMPORTANT PARA OF THE ABOVE JUDGEMENT. 

7.1 Reliance was placed upon the decision of this court in the case of Dr. B. R. Kulkarni v. Government of Gujarat and others, 1978 (19) GLR 1021, wherein the court after referring to the Government of Gujarat, General Administration Department, Government Resolution dated 8 th March, 1969 which contains instructions regarding Writing and Maintenance of Annual Confidential Reports, has held that in terms of the said Government Resolution, ephemeral roll in respect of each Government servant whose work and conduct is to be reported on, should be maintained by the Reporting Officer and that such ephemeral roll should be written quarterly and when a Reporting Officer makes entry therein about that person’s work as seen from day to day. These ephemeral rolls are to be taken into account when writing the annual confidential report of that person. The court held that though the instructions contained in the said resolution are executive in character, they cannot C/SCA/10572/2013 JUDGMENT be departed from at the sweet-will of those who are required to implement them. Any arbitrary departure from those instructions without any rational and justifiable grounds would fall within the mischief of Articles 14 and 16. It was held that those entrusted with the task of preparing these reports have to perform a duty which is analogous to judicial function and which requires them to act with equanimity, objectivity, detachment and conscience. The performance of this function must be looked upon more as a discharge of duty than as an exercise of power. Those entrusted with this duty hold golden scales and not a weapon of offence. The human fallibility and want of objectivity are factors which, however, cannot be eliminated altogether. It is for that reason that safeguards are provided in the executive instructions by laying down norms and guidelines in order to make the assessment in confidential reports as objective as possible. Besides, above the Reporting Officer, there is the provision for a Reviewing Officer and then, there is the authority which considers the representations. At each of these three levels, there must be conscious effort to maintain complete objectivity and conscientious endeavour to thoroughly discharge the duty according to the guidelines. The court expressed the hope that those who are charged with the duty to oversee that the entries in the confidential record are fair, just and objective will function more effectively and intervene and rectify the mistakes, if any, committed at any lower level. Unless all this is ensured and arbitrariness insulated against, a time might well come when the method of selection based on past performance as disclosed by the confidential reports might have to be treated as not the just and proper method for adjudging suitability of the officer concerned for a higher post having regard to the broad sweep C/SCA/10572/2013 JUDGMENT of Articles 14 and 16. Mr. Marshal submitted that the norms and guidelines for making assessment in confidential reports in terms of the above Government Resolution have been given a complete go-bye in the present case. It was submitted that no ephemeral roll appears to have been maintained by the Reporting Officer and that the Reviewing Officer has failed in his duty of independently assessing the performance of the petitioner. It was submitted that at all levels, the concerned authorities have failed to objectively consider the matter and hence, the adverse remarks made against the petitioner deserve to be cancelled.

15. As to how annual confidential reports are to be written and maintained, has been provided by the Government Resolution, General Administration Department dated 8 th March, 1969 which directs that instructions contained in the accompaniment to the said Resolution should be followed in the matter of writing and maintenance of annual confidential reports. The said instructions, inter alia, provide that confidential reports should generally be written by the immediate superior who is called the Reporting Officer. When there is a supervisory officer between a Government servant and his Reporting Officer, a duty is enjoined upon the Reporting Officer to consult the supervisory officer when writing the confidential report. Remarks of the supervisory officer should be obtained by the Reporting Officer in writing on plain paper and those remarks have to be kept with the Ephemeral Roll of the person concerned. The Reporting Officer has to submit the confidential reports written by him to the next higher officer who should review his reports and make his own remarks therein. The next higher officer is called the Reviewing Officer. The Reviewing Officer has to form his own judgment of the work and conduct of the persons reported upon and he must state clearly his own agreement or disagreement on the remarks and assessment made by the Reporting Officer. Where the Reviewing Officer considers that the remarks of the Reporting Officer do not give a complete picture of the ability, merit or defects of the persons reported upon, he is required to add his detailed and specific remarks. Each Government servant should be graded on the basis of his confidential report every year, the standard grades being “Outstanding”, “Very Good”, “Good”, “Fair”, “Below Average” and “Poor”. The grading should be done by the Reporting Officer himself because grading consists really in summing up and assessing the various points included in the report. The Reviewing Officer being a higher officer must review not only the whole report but also the grading given by the Reporting Officer. A Reporting Officer has to maintain an Ephemeral Roll in respect of each Government servant whose work and conduct he is required to report on. The Ephemeral Roll should be maintained in the form appended to the Government Resolution dated March 8, 1969. The Ephemeral Roll has to be written quarterly by the Reporting Officer who should make entries therein about the person’s work as seen from day to day. The remarks have to cover good as well as bad points that might come to the notice of the Reporting Officer. The Ephemeral Roll has to be taken into account when writing the annual confidential report of that person. The Ephemeral Rolls have to be destroyed one year after the confidential reports have been submitted to the Reviewing Officer. The confidential report must be true and it must contain an objective assessment of the concerned Government servant’s ability and character as reflected in his official work during the period under report. Absolute objectivity should be the aim of every Reporting Officer. His work in this respect would be facilitated by the proper maintenance of Ephemeral Rolls. The Reporting Officer should take particular care to disregard all subjective considerations and bias that he may have one way or the other. He should aim at giving, as far as possible, a complete picture of that person’s good and bad points. His judgment should be based on verifiable facts. Remarks should be unequivocal, specific and should give a balanced view of the person’s capabilities and failings. It is for this reason that after a Reporting Officer has written a report it is required to be reviewed by a higher officer. It is a special responsibility of the Reviewing Officer to ensure that the quality of reporting is such as to give a complete account of a person’s character and work covering bad as well as good points. A Reviewing Officer has to correct the conscious or unconscious bias that may be there in the assessment given by the Reporting Officer, particularly when any adverse remarks have been made. When an officer has consistently earned good reports for a series of years and has been suddenly reported on adversely, or vice versa, the Reviewing Officer or a higher authority should generally require the Reporting Officer to amplify his remarks and to substantiate them. If annual confidential reports are not written carefully and if they do not give a correct and adequate picture of the work, ability qualities, failings and draw-backs of the persons reported on, such defects in the reports would reduce their usefulness in matters relating to placement, promotion etc. It is, therefore, necessary that a confidential C/SCA/10572/2013 JUDGMENT report gives, as far as possible, a full and objective assessment of the person concerned in all respects so far as it is relevant to his official duties.