8.3.2022, New Delhi, Tuesday
The Supreme Court on Tuesday said a mere existence of vacancy per se will not create a right in favour of an employee for retrospective promotion when the vacancies in the promotional post is specifically prescribed under the rules, including clearance through a selection process.
“In a case of promotion, there can never be a parity between
two separate sets of rules,” a bench of Justices Sanjay Kishan Kaul and M M
Sundresh said.
The top court explained, in other words, a right to promotion
and subsequent benefits and seniority would arise only with respect to the
rules governing the said promotion, and not a different set of rules which
might apply to a promoted post facilitating further promotion which is governed
by a different set of rules.
The bench allowed an appeal filed by the Centre which
questioned a judgement by the high court. The Centre said the high court
committed a fundamental error in granting the relief in favour an officer who admittedly
voluntarily retired in the year 2010 while the promotion was granted after the
completion of the selection process in 2012 against the vacancies which arose
in the year of 2011, in the light of promotion of ‘Junior Administrative Grade
I’ officers to IAS.
Agreeing to the Union government’s plea, the bench said:
“Once an officer retires voluntarily, there is cessation of jural relationship
resorting to a “golden handshake” between the employer and employee. Such a
former employee cannot seek to agitate his past, as well as future rights, if
any, sans the prescription of rules.”