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G. Mohanasundaram v. R. Nanthagopal

Civil Appeal · Neutral citation not assigned (Civil Appeal arising out of SLP (Civil) No. 26223 of 2013)Decided 21 Jul 2014
Civil Appeal arising out of SLP (Civil) No. 26223 of 2013
Justice Sudhansu Jyoti Mukhopadhaya · Justice V. Gopala Gowda

Background

Two Tamil Nadu civil service officers competed for promotion to the Indian Administrative Service. The State withheld several years of Nanthagopal's confidential reports as supposedly invalid because they were written late, and later dropped pending disciplinary charges before his appointment. Mohanasundaram challenged the selection; the tribunal ruled in his favour but the High Court restored it.

Decision Breakdown

The Supreme Court allowed the appeal and ordered fresh comparative consideration of the two officers for the 2009A vacancies within three months. The promotion regulations required assessment of the complete service records. The State's instructions about the time for writing reports were directory and did not make late reports invalid, so withholding those reports unlawfully distorted the assessment. The Court also upheld the tribunal's criticism of the unexplained dropping of charges and grant of an integrity certificate, and held that the High Court could not supply undisclosed reasons for that decision. It restored the tribunal's order with modifications requiring a fresh or review selection committee if necessary, rather than directly appointing the appellant.

Lesson Learnt

A public promotion assessment must use the relevant complete service record and valid rules, rather than selectively omit inconvenient reports. A successful challenge can lead to reconsideration on a lawful basis without guaranteeing the challenger the promotion.

Official source (sci.gov.in)View Judgment (PDF)

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