CBDT order on timely completion of APARs of Group A & Group B Officers

GOVERNMENT OF INDIA
MINISTRY OF FINANCE
CENTRAL BOARD OF DIRECT TAXES
(Human Resources Development)
2nd Floor, K Ramp, JLN Stadium, Pragati Vihar, New Delhi- 110003
sparrow.hrd@incometax.gov.in

F.No. HRD/PM/APAR/403/SPARROW/2021-22 /10885

Dated:18/02/2022

To,

All the Pr.CCsIT(CCA)/Pr.DGsIT/CCsIT/DGsIT

Subject:- Timely completion of APARs as per the timelines of the DoPT by Group A & Group B Officers of the Income Tax Department – reg.
Respected Madam/Sir,

Kindly refer to the DoPT OM No. 35014/4/83-Estt.A dated 23rd September 1985 and DoPT OM No. 21011/02/2009-Estt.A dated 16th February 2009 regarding timely preparation and proper maintenance of APARs.

2. In order to reduce APAR deficiencies which were one of the main reasons for delay in holding DPCs, the CBDT with the approval of Competent Authority has migrated to the SPARROW portal to ensure timely completion of APAR cycles. However, it is seen that a number of APARs still remain pending for the following reasons:

• at the level of Officers Reported Upon (ORU): due to non-submission of self­ appraisals within the due dates; or
• at the level of Reporting Officers: due to non-reporting I non-initiation of APARs within due dates; or
• at the level of Reviewing Officers: due to non-reviewing I non-initiation of APARs within due dates.

This has resulted in delay in completion of APAR cycles.

3. Recently, the DPCs/Screening Committees have taken an adverse view that a large number of NRCs are drawn in respect of IRS(IT) Officers due to non-reporting or non­ reviewing of APARs by the Reporting Officers/Reviewing Officers on time or delayed submission of self-appraisals by the ORUs.

4. Therefore, keeping in view the DoPT OM No. 35014/4/83-Estt.A dated 23rd September 1985 and DoPT OM No. 21011/02/2009-Estt.A dated 15th February, 2009; it has been decided that the following guidelines shall apply with effect from the Reporting Year 2021-22:

i. If no self-work flow is created or no self-appraisal is submitted by the ORU within DoPT timelines (i.e. 15th April): If the ORU does not create self-workflow or does not submit self-appraisal by due date (i.e. 15th April) , the ORU shall be considered as a defaulting officer. If no self-workflow is created by the ORU, the Primary Custodian shall create workflows of such ORUs after obtaining Basic Information of the ORU from the concerned DDOs and initiate their APARs by 30th April. Where the self-appraisal is not submitted by the ORUs, the Primary Custodian shall force forward all such blank APARs to the Reporting Officers by 15th May mentioning reasons in the comments section.

ii. If the Reporting Officer does not report the APAR within DoPT timeline (i.e. 30th June): The Reporting Officer shall forfeit the right to enter any remarks in the APAR, and the APAR shall be FORCE FORWARDED on SPARROW by the concerned Primary Custodian to the Reviewing Officer on the next working day. In such situations, the Reviewing Officer shall report the APAR and a No Review Certificate will be placed in the Dossier. While reporting the APAR in such cases, the Reviewing Officer shall report about the INTEGRITY of the ORU also. The Reporting Officer shall be considered as a defaulting officer in such cases.

iii. If the Reviewing Officer does not review the APAR (which has been duly reported by the Reporting Officer) within DoPT timeline (i.e. 31st July): The Reviewing Officer shall forfeit his right to enter any remarks in the APAR and the APAR shall be FORCE FORWARDED by the Primary Custodian to the next stage. A No Review Certificate would be placed in the Dossier in such a case. The Reviewing Officer shall be considered as a defaulting officer in such cases.

iv. Where no self-appraisal was submitted by the ORU AND both the Reporting Officer and Reviewing Officer also not reported APAR within timelines: A No APAR Certificate, mentioning all the facts, shall be placed in the Dossier. The Primary Custodian shall mention all facts regarding non-submission of self-appraisal by ORU, non-reporting by Reporting Officer and non-reporting by the Reviewing Officer in remarks section while force forwarding the APAR to next stage. These remarks shall have heading of ‘No APAR Certificate’ . The ORU, the Reporting Officer and the Reviewing Officer shall be considered as defaulting officers in such cases.

v. In the month of October, the Primary Custodian shall prepare a list of such defaulting officers, i.e.

a. ORUs, who have not created self-workflow and/or not submitted self­ appraisal within timeline (i.e. 15th April),

Read the full order

b. Reporting Officers, who have not reported APARs within the timeline (i.e. 30th June), and

c. Reviewing Officers, who have not reviewed the APARs (or not reported the unreported APARs) within timeline (i.e. 31st July).

vi. In case the defaulting officer is up to the level of PCIT, the Primary Custodian shall submit this list to the Pr.CCIT(CCA) concerned. Where the defaulting officer is of the level of CCIT & above, the Primary Custodian shall send this list to the Pr.DGIT(HRD).

vii. The Pr.CCIT(CCA) may call for the explanation of the concerned officers (up to the level of PCIT) for not having performed the public duty of writing the APARs within the due date and in the absence of proper justification may direct that a written warning/advisory for the delay in completing the APAR be placed in the APAR folder of the defaulting officer concerned. For the ORUs, who are on deputation, the Pr.DGIT(HRD) may call for the explanation as above. In the cases of the defaulting officers of the level of CCIT & above, the Pr.DGIT(HRD) may call for the explanation as above after approval from the Chairman, CBDT (Draft Show Cause Notice is attached herewith for ready reference as per Annexure-1 ).

viii. In such cases where the Reporting officer or Reviewing Officer have forfeited their right to make any entry in the APAR of the ORU (although the self-appraisal had been submitted by the ORU in time) , the APAR format with the self-appraisal submitted by the ORU will be placed in the APAR dossier of the ORU.

ix. If the APAR is not accepted/represented by the ORU within 15 days of communication: The ORU will forfeit right to make any representation and the APAR shall be force forwarded/closed by the Primary Custodian (mentioning reasons of force closing in remarks section).

x. The whole exercise of closure of APAR cycle after disposing all representations and issuing of written warning/advisory to defaulting officers shall be completed by 30th November.

xi. 1st April to 15th April will be observed as “APAR Fortnight” in the Department every year to enhance timely compliance.

5. As per the above instructions, the duties/responsibilities of the various officers/sections regarding APARs shall be as under: