Gujarat HC reserves order on ex-IPS officer's appraisal case

The Gujarat High Court today reserved its order on a petition filed by retired IPS officer and present Congress member Kuldip Sharma challenging his 2010 annual appraisal report.
The report was prepared by Agriculture Minister Dilip Sanghani and accepted by the then Chief Minister Narendra Modi.
Sharma had first challenged the report in the Central Administrative Tribunal (CAT) which held there was nothing wrong in its preparation by Sanghani and acceptance by Modi. Following this, the police officer approached the HC.
A division bench of Chief Justice R Subhash Reddy and Justice V M Pancholi today concluded the hearing on the petition and reserved its order. As many as three HC Judges - Justices Harsha Devani, A S Dave and S R Brahmbhatt - had earlier recused themselves from the case.

Sharma had objected to his appraisal report prepared by Sanghani, saying the then Agriculture Minister was not a competent authority to evaluate him.
In 2010, the officer was posted as Managing Director of Gujarat Sheep and Wool Development Corporation Ltd which comes under the Agriculture Ministry.

Sharma argued he had not worked under the reviewing authority (Sanghani) for the minimum period of 90 days, the cut-off required for annual appraisals as per service rules. Therefore, the Minister was not qualified to appraise him, he said.
The appraisal was vetted by Modi wherein his performance was downgraded.
The government argued that any officer, who has worked for more than 90 days, was liable for appraisal. Sharma, on the other hand, worked for 102 days in 2010 and also sought 15 days leave, the government submitted before the court.

Sharma, on the other hand, said he worked for 87 days and was thus exempt from any appraisal process. Of 142 days work with the Corporation, he was on leave on 55 days.
After retirement, Sharma joined Congress.