In Brief
Anil Kumar, a CSIR officer, challenged the rejection of his claim for financial upgradation under the Modified Assured Career Progression scheme and denial of promotion to Senior Deputy Secretary. The Supreme Court held that CSIR, despite its autonomy, must comply with the binding principle established in Dev Dutt that all Annual Confidential Report entries must be communicated to employees within a reasonable period. The Court found that failure to communicate the ACRs prevented Kumar from making representations and violated natural justice. The Court allowed the appeal and directed CSIR to grant Kumar a fresh opportunity to submit representations within four weeks, and to reconsider his cases for both financial upgradation and promotion based on any upgraded ACRs.
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