In a landmark decision relating to the bureaucracy, the Tripura State Information Commission has ruled that the Annual Confidential Reports (ACR)and minutes of the Departmental Promotions Committee (DPR) would be accessible to the officer concerned who had applied for copies of all ACRs pertaining to his own performance and inspection of the recommendations of the DPC relating to all IAS and non-IAS officers of his batch, which was not provided to him by the PIO.
The Appellate Authority rejected had also rejected his appeal on the grounds that ACRs and DPC meeting minutes were of personal nature. ACRs and DPC's have long been kept as confidential documents because many bureaucrats fear that transparency, would discourage senior officers from expressing their frank opinion freely which in turn would adversely affect cordial relations between senior and junior officers thereby ruining the cohesiveness of the administration.
However, the Tripura Information Commission relied upon a 1971 circular issued by the Department of Personnel and Training (DOPT) of the Government of India that had clarified that a gist of the good points and the entire adverse remarks contained in the ACR may be communicated to the officer concerned thereby recognising that the very nature of ACRs and DPC recommendations requires them to be made public. With this ruling, Tripura Information Commission has now therefore set a high standard for access to these 'confidential' documents something from which the Central Information Commission itself shied away in many of its earlier rulings.