AIBOBOU Files Writ Petition in Rajasthan High Court Against Bank of Baroda’s GEMS System & Promotion Policy 2025

The circular notes that certain officer bodies in the past:

• Did not raise issues of transparency
   
• Did not defend service conditions
   
• Did not approach judicial remedies
   
• Allowed systematic erosion of officers’ rights
  
  The union says this silence continued when:
   
• APAR was replaced by GEMS
   
• Discretionary marks were increased
   
• Cohort-based comparison began
   
• Opaque promotion policy was introduced
   
• Transparency continued to deteriorate

Key Arguments Raised in the Writ Petition
The union argues that substituting statutory APAR with GEMS through a circular is illegal, especially without Board approval under Section 19(1)(d) or mandatory clearance from the DFS, whose circulars require continued use of APAR. It says the opaque algorithm violates Articles 14, 16, and 21 by providing no reasons or fairness, while extrapolation leads to invented marks where KRAs are missing, making the process arbitrary. The use of undisclosed cohorts amounts to secret classification without any intelligible principle, and the absence of a review or appeal mechanism denies natural justice. Overall, the union claims Promotion Policy 2025 is coercive, opaque, and discriminatory.

Union’s Requests Before the High Court
AIBOBOU has requested the admission of the writ petition, a stay on the use of GEMS scores, and a stay on Promotion Policy 2025 until judicial review is completed. The union has also sought directions to the Bank for full transparency in written exam results, merit lists, cut-offs, cohort data, and detailed scoring sheets, along with restoration of APAR until legal scrutiny is completed. The Court is expected to hear the admission and interim stay arguments next.

Reasons Cited for Immediate Intervention
In its circular, AIBOBOU states that GEMS is not an appraisal tool but a secret algorithmic governance mechanism, and promotions based on GEMS will cause irreversible damage. The union says no statutory or regulatory framework supports replacing APAR, cohorts introduce mathematical discrimination, extrapolation creates fabricated scores, and officers’ careers are being altered without transparency or natural justice.

Union’s Advisory to Officers
AIBOBOU says this fight is not about one batch or one year but about the future of every Barodian officer. If GEMS continues unchecked, promotions may no longer depend on real merit, hidden cohorts will decide scores, targets may become unrealistic, discretion will increase, algorithms will dominate decisions, human accountability will vanish, and transparency will disappear. Officers may reach a point where they will not know why they failed, who they were compared with, what data was used, or how marks were computed. “We will not allow that day to come,” the circular says.

Union’s Stand: Fair, Just, and Constitutional
AIBOBOU states that its struggle stands for transparency, merit, equality, justice, accountability, rule of law, and the dignity of Barodian officers.

The union urges officers to stay informed, stay vigilant, stay united, reject opacity, stand against algorithmic injustice, and support truth and fairness.