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—rti-for-acr-apar-copy [2026/07/04 00:41] (current) – created - external edit 127.0.0.1
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 +{{htmlmetatags>metatag-title=(RTI for Your Own ACR/APAR Copy - RTI Wiki)&metatag-description=(File RTI to get your ACR/APAR copy. Dev Dutt and Sukhdev Singh make every grading disclosure mandatory. Track representation disposal and below-benchmark marks.)&metatag-keywords=(ACR APAR RTI, Dev Dutt, Sukhdev Singh, APAR communication, grading representation, below benchmark, DoPT OM, service record RTI)&metatag-robots=(index,follow)&metatag-og:title=(RTI for Your Own ACR/APAR Copy - RTI Wiki)&metatag-og:description=(File RTI to get your ACR/APAR copy. Dev Dutt and Sukhdev Singh make grading disclosure mandatory.)&metatag-og:type=(article)}}
  
 +====== RTI for Your Own ACR/APAR Copy ======
 +
 +Ramesh works as a Section Officer in a Central ministry. For three years in a row his promotion has been "deferred". No one tells him why. The seniority list moves, his name stays put, and the file note that explains the freeze is locked inside a brown folder he has never seen — his Annual Confidential Report, or ACR (now called APAR, Annual Performance Assessment Report). One day a helpful clerk whispers: "Sir, your 2022-23 grading is 'Good', but the benchmark for the next grade is 'Very Good'." Ramesh never received that grading. He never got a chance to write a representation against it. He did not even know the mark existed.
 +
 +This is the single most common, and most easily fixed, injustice in government service. The Supreme Court has said, more than once, that **every** entry in your ACR/APAR must be told to you — not just the ones your office labels "adverse". A "Good" is adverse **in effect** when the benchmark for promotion is "Very Good". And if the entry was never communicated to you, it cannot legally be used to deny you a promotion. The RTI Act is the tool that gets that hidden entry into your hands.
 +
 +This guide walks you through, step by step, how to use RTI to pull out your own ACR/APAR, force disclosure of the grading, track your representation, and build the paper trail you need if you later challenge a denied promotion. For the wider strategy of drafting RTIs and escalating silence, see [[https://righttoinformation.wiki/book|The RTI Playbook]].
 +
 +<WRAP info>**Direct answer.** File the RTI application to the **Public Information Officer of your own department** (the Reviewing Authority or Accepting Authority office holds the signed APAR). Ask for a certified copy of your APAR for the last five years, the disposal of any representation you filed, and the reason your grading was held below benchmark. The Central Government fee is Rs.10.</WRAP>
 +
 +===== Why disclosure is not optional — the law =====
 +
 +Two Supreme Court judgments make communication of your ACR/APAR entries a legal duty, not a courtesy.
 +
 +**Dev Dutt v. Union of India, (2008) 8 SCC 725** — decided by a two-Judge Bench (Sema and Katju JJ) on 12 May 2008. The Court held that **every** entry in an ACR — whether it reads "poor", "fair", "average", "good", or "very good" — must be communicated to the employee within a reasonable time. Non-communication violates **Article 14** (the right to equality) because an employee cannot defend or explain a grading they have never seen. The Court made one narrow exception: this rule does **not** apply to military personnel. Every other State employee is covered. The nomenclature of the grade does not matter; what matters is the **effect**. A "Good" is adverse in effect when the promotion benchmark is "Very Good", and it must be communicated just the same.
 +
 +**Sukhdev Singh v. Union of India, (2013) 9 SCC 566 / AIR 2013 SC 2741** — a three-Judge Bench of the Supreme Court (Lodha, Lokur and Kurian Joseph JJ, 23 April 2013). The Bench examined Dev Dutt in detail, **approved and affirmed** it, and held that every ACR entry must be communicated, and the employee's representation must be decided by a higher authority within a reasonable time. The Court went further: it declared earlier decisions that said otherwise to be "not laying down good law". So there is no longer any room for the old argument that "only adverse remarks need be communicated".
 +
 +These two rulings are your foundation. When your office says "we only share adverse entries", quote Dev Dutt and Sukhdev Singh.
 +
 +===== The DoPT circulars that run the system =====
 +
 +For Central civilian employees, the disclosure regime is built out of a series of DoPT Office Memorandums (OMs) — there is no single instrument called "ACR Rules 2011". The three you will cite most often are:
 +
 +  - **DoPT OM No. 21011/1/2005-Estt.(A)(Pt.II) dated 14 May 2009** — made communication of **all** APAR entries (including the overall grade and the integrity assessment) mandatory from the reporting period 2008-09 onwards. The full APAR must be communicated **after** the Reviewing Officer and Accepting Authority have recorded their remarks.
 +  - **DoPT OM dated 13 April 2010** — for below-benchmark ACRs that pre-date 2008-09 but are still reckonable for a future DPC, the employee must be given the entry and allowed to file a representation **within 15 days** before the file goes to the DPC. Upgradation of a final grading must carry specific reasons.
 +  - **DoPT OM No. 21011/1/2005-Estt.(A)(Pt.II) dated 19 May 2011** — competent authorities must decide APAR representations **objectively and within 30 days** of receipt, and record specific (speaking) reasons whenever they upgrade any grading.
 +
 +For All India Services (IAS, IPS, IFoS), the parallel instrument is the **AIS (PAR) Rules 2007**. The principle is the same: disclose, then decide.
 +
 +===== The APAR calendar =====
 +
 +Knowing the timeline tells you exactly when to file your RTI. The DoPT calendar for a reporting year runs like this:
 +
 +^ Stage ^ Deadline ^
 +| Blank APAR form issued | 31 March |
 +| Self-appraisal submitted | 15 April |
 +| Reporting Officer records remarks | 30 June |
 +| Reviewing Officer records remarks | 31 July |
 +| Accepting Authority records remarks | 31 August |
 +| Disclosure to the officer (no accepting authority) | 1 September |
 +| Disclosure to the officer (with accepting authority) | 15 September |
 +| Representation period (from receipt) | 15 days |
 +| Disposal of representation | 30 days |
 +| Communication of decision | 15 days |
 +| Entire APAR process closed | 30 November |
 +
 +So if 15 September has passed and you have not been shown your APAR, the system has already breached the timeline. That is the moment to file your RTI.
 +
 +===== Step 1 — File the RTI for your APAR copy =====
 +
 +**Where to file.** Address the application to the **Public Information Officer** of your own department (the office of the Reviewing Authority or Accepting Authority, because that is where the signed APAR physically sits). Central ministries each have a designated Central Public Information Officer (CPIO).
 +
 +**Fee.** For **Central Government** public authorities the application fee is **Rs.10**, fixed by the **Central RTI Rules 2012, Rule 3(1)**, and unchanged since 2005. You can pay by Indian Postal Order, demand draft, cash against receipt, or online (most ministries now accept payment through the RTI Online portal). If you hold a valid **BPL** certificate, the fee is waived — see [[claim-rti-fee-waiver-bpl-2026|how to claim the BPL RTI fee waiver]].
 +
 +**Important.** The Rs.10 figure is for **Central** public authorities only. Many States charge a different amount — for example, Gujarat charges Rs.20. If you are a State government employee, check your own State's RTI Rules first; the [[rti-fees-by-state|State-wise RTI fees list]] shows the current figure for each State.
 +
 +**A ready-to-use template.**
 +
 +<code>
 +To,
 +The Central Public Information Officer,
 +[Name of your Ministry / Department],
 +[Address]
 +
 +Subject: Application under Section 6(1) of the Right to Information Act, 2005
 +
 +Sir/Madam,
 +
 +Please furnish the following information relating to me,
 +[Your Name], [Designation], [Employee ID], [Office]:
 +
 +1. A certified copy of my APAR / ACR for the financial years
 +   [YYYY-YYYY] to [YYYY-YYYY], including the overall grading, the
 +   integrity assessment, and the remarks of the Reporting Officer,
 +   Reviewing Officer and Accepting Authority.
 +
 +2. A certified copy of the order or note by which my grading for
 +   [YYYY-YYYY] was fixed at "[grade]", and the benchmark prescribed
 +   for promotion to [next grade] for that year.
 +
 +3. The status and disposal of the representation I submitted on
 +   [date] against the said grading, including a copy of the speaking
 +   order passed under DoPT OM dated 19.05.2011.
 +
 +4. The date on which my APAR for [YYYY-YYYY] was disclosed to me
 +   under DoPT OM dated 14.05.2009, and the mode of disclosure.
 +
 +I am enclosing Rs.10 as application fee by [IPO / online receipt / DD].
 +
 +Date:                Place:
 +[Your signature]
 +[Contact details]
 +</code>
 +
 +Print it, sign it, keep a stamped acknowledged copy, and keep the postal receipt or online reference number. That acknowledged copy is your proof of filing.
 +
 +===== Step 2 — If the reply is wrong, delayed, or missing =====
 +
 +The RTI Act gives you a clean escalation ladder.
 +
 +**30 days is the limit.** The CPIO must reply within 30 days of receiving your application. If the answer is incomplete, evasive, or simply does not arrive, you move to the **first appeal** under Section 19(1) — filed with the departmental First Appellate Authority within 30 days of the CPIO's silence or reply. See [[file-first-appeal-rti-section-19-2026|how to file a first appeal under Section 19]] for the format and the FAA timeline.
 +
 +**Second appeal.** If the FAA also fails, you go to the **Central Information Commission** (for Central employees) or the State Information Commission (for State employees) under Section 19(3). This is a written, quasi-judicial hearing. The full procedure is in [[file-second-appeal-cic-sic-2026|filing a second appeal before the CIC/SIC]].
 +
 +===== Step 3 — Use the APAR copy to fix the grading =====
 +
 +Once the RTI brings your APAR into your hands, three things open up.
 +
 +**A. File a representation within 15 days.** The moment you are shown a below-benchmark entry, the 15-day clock for a representation starts. Use plain language: state what fact the Reporting Officer got wrong, attach any proof (your tour notes, the file you processed, the appreciation letter), and ask for the grading to be upgraded to the benchmark. Cite Dev Dutt and Sukhdev Singh — they oblige the authority to decide within 30 days and to give speaking reasons.
 +
 +**B. Demand the disposal.** If 30 days pass with no order, file a fresh RTI asking for "the status and disposal of my representation dated [date]". The 19 May 2011 OM requires objective, reasoned disposal. Silence is itself actionable.
 +
 +**C. Challenge a promotion denial built on an uncommunicated entry.** This is where most employees win. If your name was withheld from a DPC because of a grading you were never shown, that grading is legally unusable — Dev Dutt says so, in terms. You can challenge the promotion denial before the **Central Administrative Tribunal** (or the State tribunal / High Court, as the case may be), armed with your RTI reply as proof that the entry was never communicated. Pair this with a [[rti-for-promotion-dpc-minutes|RTI for DPC minutes]] to see exactly what the DPC recorded about you.
 +
 +===== Step 4 — Companion RTIs that strengthen your case =====
 +
 +Your APAR does not sit alone. A denied promotion is usually a chain of files, and you can pull each link by RTI:
 +
 +  - **DPC minutes** — who attended, who scored you, the comparative chart. See [[rti-for-promotion-dpc-minutes|RTI for DPC minutes]].
 +  - **Service record and seniority** — to confirm your service is correctly reflected. See [[pio-service-records-rti|RTI for service records]] and [[rti-for-disciplinary-action-status|RTI for disciplinary-action status]] when a pending inquiry is being used to freeze you.
 +  - **Cohort grading pattern** — ask for an **anonymised** summary of how many officers in your batch received each grade for the year in question. If 90 percent were marked "Very Good" and you alone got "Good", that outlier pattern is powerful evidence of arbitrariness. (Anonymised cohort data is normally disclosable; individual names of colleagues are not — the CPIO may sever names under Section 10.)
 +
 +For a stronger overall application, read [[write-effective-rti-application-2026|how to write an effective RTI application]] before you file.
 +
 +===== Common mistakes to avoid =====
 +
 +  - **Asking only for "adverse remarks".** Dev Dutt and Sukhdev Singh cover **every** entry, including "Good". Word your RTI for the **whole** APAR, not just adverse portions.
 +  - **Forgetting the integrity column.** The 14 May 2009 OM makes the integrity assessment disclosable too. Ask for it by name.
 +  - **Missing the 15-day representation window.** Once disclosure reaches you, the 15 days start immediately. File the representation the same week.
 +  - **Treating the fee as a national flat rate.** Rs.10 is Central only. State employees must check their own State rules.
 +  - **Filing RTI to the wrong office.** The signed APAR lives with the Reviewing/Accepting Authority's office, not your immediate branch. Address the CPIO of that office.
 +  - **Not keeping the acknowledged copy.** Without the stamped receiving or online reference, you cannot prove the 30-day clock started.
 +
 +===== Pro tips =====
 +
 +  - **Quote the OMs by number and date.** A reply that names "DoPT OM No. 21011/1/2005-Estt.(A)(Pt.II) dated 14.05.2009" is harder to deflect than one that says "the APAR rules".
 +  - **Pair your RTI with a representation.** File them on the same day. The RTI proves the entry exists and was disclosed; the representation starts the 30-day disposal clock.
 +  - **Ask for the benchmark in writing.** "Good" only hurts you if the benchmark is "Very Good". Get the prescribed benchmark for your grade on record — it is disclosable.
 +  - **Use the APAR calendar as a weapon.** If disclosure happened after 15 September without reason, the breach of the DoPT timeline is itself a ground in your representation.
 +
 +===== FAQ =====
 +
 +  - **Q: My office says only "adverse" entries are communicated. Is that valid?** No. Dev Dutt (2008) 8 SCC 725 and Sukhdev Singh (2013) 9 SCC 566, both Supreme Court, hold that **every** entry must be communicated. A "Good" is adverse in effect when the benchmark is "Very Good".
 +  - **Q: My ACR was never communicated and I was denied promotion. Can I challenge it?** Yes. An uncommunicated entry cannot legally be used against you. Get the non-communication on record through RTI, then approach the Tribunal/High Court.
 +  - **Q: I retired last year. Can I still get my old APARs?** Yes. RTI applies to records held by a public authority regardless of your service status. Your old APARs remain on the department's file.
 +  - **Q: My Reporting Officer changed mid-year. How do I get the handover note?** File an RTI asking for the mid-year handover entry and the remarks of both the outgoing and incoming Reporting Officer. It is part of your APAR.
 +  - **Q: Are military personnel covered?** No. Dev Dutt expressly excludes the armed forces from the mandatory-communication rule.
 +  - **Q: I am a State employee. Is the Rs.10 fee correct for me?** Not always. Rs.10 is the Central fee under the Central RTI Rules 2012. Several States charge more (Gujarat Rs.20, for example). Check your State's RTI Rules.
 +
 +===== Related reading =====
 +
 +  - [[:rti-for-promotion-dpc-minutes|RTI for DPC minutes]]
 +  - [[:rti-for-disciplinary-action-status|RTI for disciplinary-action status]]
 +  - [[:pio-service-records-rti|RTI for service records]]
 +  - [[:file-first-appeal-rti-section-19-2026|File a first appeal under Section 19]]
 +  - [[:file-second-appeal-cic-sic-2026|File a second appeal before the CIC/SIC]]
 +  - [[:claim-rti-fee-waiver-bpl-2026|BPL RTI fee waiver]]
 +  - [[:rti-fees-by-state|RTI fees by State]]
 +  - [[:write-effective-rti-application-2026|Write an effective RTI application]]
 +  - [[https://righttoinformation.wiki/book|The RTI Playbook]]
 +
 +===== Sources =====
 +
 +  - Dev Dutt v. Union of India, (2008) 8 SCC 725 (Supreme Court, 12 May 2008) — https://indiankanoon.org/doc/801705/
 +  - Sukhdev Singh v. Union of India, (2013) 9 SCC 566 / AIR 2013 SC 2741 (Supreme Court, 3-Judge Bench, 23 April 2013) — https://indiankanoon.org/doc/9665019/
 +  - DoPT OM No. 21011/1/2005-Estt.(A)(Pt.II) dated 14.05.2009 — communication of all APAR entries
 +  - DoPT OM dated 13.04.2010 — below-benchmark ACRs prior to 2008-09 to be given for representation
 +  - DoPT OM No. 21011/1/2005-Estt.(A)(Pt.II) dated 19.05.2011 — 30-day objective disposal, speaking orders for upgradation
 +  - Central RTI Rules 2012, Rule 3(1) — Rs.10 application fee (Department of Legal Affairs) — https://legalaffairs.gov.in/rti/fee-required-under-rti-act
 +  - DoPT APAR process timeline (Brochure on Career) — https://documents.doptcirculars.nic.in/D2/D02ser/BROCHURE-CR.pdf
 +
 +//Last reviewed: 4 July 2026.//
 +
 +{{tag>rti for acr apar copy citizen-rti rti-template apar-communication dev-dutt sukhdev-singh}}