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Ramesh Kumar v. State of Himachal Pradesh

Civil Appeal · 2021 INSC 727Decided 13 Nov 2021
Civil Appeal Nos. 6649-6650 of 2021
Justice M.R. Shah · Justice Sanjiv Khanna

Background

The case involved a long-running dispute within the Himachal Pradesh State Electricity Board between employees who were directly recruited as Assistant Accounts Officers (AAOs) and those who reached that post through promotion. A 2010 regulation required AAOs to pass a departmental "SAS Part-II" exam before being promoted further to Accounts Officer (AO), which effectively blocked the direct recruits, since no such exam was ever required for their entry as AAOs. The High Court sided with the direct recruits, strick down that exam requirement for promotion to AO, and ordered the promotions of the promotee-AAOs (who had been promoted without needing to clear the exam) to be reconsidered; both the promotees and the Electricity Board appealed to the Supreme Court.

Decision Breakdown

The Supreme Court upheld the High Court's reasoning, holding it illogical and arbitrary to require passing the SAS Part-II exam for promotion to the higher post of AO when that same exam was never a requirement for entry to the lower post of AAO for direct recruits. It rejected the promotee-AAOs' argument that they should not be reverted after years of working in the higher post, holding that protecting their promotions would simply nullify the correct judgment under challenge and create unfair complications for further promotions down the line. The Court also rejected the argument that the long delay in challenging the 2010 notification barred the claim, noting the direct recruits could not act until their own regularisation dispute was finally settled by the Supreme Court in 2015. All the appeals by the promotees and the Board were accordingly dismissed.

Lesson Learnt

An eligibility qualification imposed for promotion to a higher post cannot be more stringent than what was required for appointment to the feeder post itself, once appointed to a cadre, employees occupying it (whether by direct recruitment or promotion) stand on equal footing for further promotion from that cadre.

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

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