Jharkhand High Court rules promotion is a fundamental right, slams state for ‘victimising’ officials named in CBI case

“The petitioners were victimised, and the mistake on the part of the State of Jharkhand has literally taken away the fundamental right of the petitioners to be considered for promotion,” the court said on April 27.

Justice Deepak Roshan said, despite being eligible, petitioners had been denied their fundamental right to be considered for promotion.

The order added that the right to be considered for promotion is a fundamental right of the petitioners as guaranteed under Articles 14 and 16 of the Constitution of India, which has been denied to the petitioners due to the miscalculation of the vacancies by the respondents and their failure to prepare the panel in accordance with the resolution dated November 2003.

‘Sealed cover procedure amount denial fundamental right’

• The right of the petitioners to be considered for promotion is an incentive for any government employee to excel in his performance, and if such an incentive is denied, the employee may lose interest in improving his performance, especially when junior persons are being granted promotion.
• But the petitioners, despite being eligible, have been denied their fundamental right to be considered for promotion.
• The inaction and/or laches of the respondent will lead to stagnation of the petitioners’ professional career and future avenues, and the petitioners shall be forced to work under their juniors.
• It must be held that any resort to sealed cover procedure would amount to denial of the fundamental right of the petitioners to be considered for promotion in 2023, which is much before the date of issuance of the chargesheet against the petitioners, i.e., in April, 2024.
• Since the petitioners were eligible for promotion as of 2023, the case of the petitioners ought to have been considered for promotion with effect from December 2023, and accordingly, the petitioners are liable to receive all notional and consequential benefits from December 2023.
• Since the petitioners have been denied their right to be considered for promotion, with no fault of their own.

• It has further been established that as on the date of filing of the writ petition, a total number of 33 posts were vacant in the general category and 9 posts were vacant in the scheduled tribe category.
• This factum has not been denied by the respondents either in the counter-affidavit or during the course of arguments.
• Since the vacancies still exist, the case of the eligible candidates can be considered against such vacant posts.

Court’s findings

• Had the respondents acted promptly, the petitioners’ case for promotion to the post of Joint Secretary would have been considered in December 2023, i.e., the date on which the DPC was convened after the petitioners became eligible for promotion to the higher rank.
• In Union of India v Hemraj Singh Chauhan, the apex court has accepted the legal position that the right of eligible employees to be considered for promotion is virtually a part of their fundamental right as guaranteed under Article 16 of the Constitution of India, and flows from the guarantee of equality under Article 14 of the Constitution.
• The petitioners’ fundamental right to be fairly considered for promotion has been denied despite being eligible as early as 2023 due to the inaction and the miscalculation of vacancies on the part of the respondent authorities.
• The action of the respondent authorities in miscalculating the number of vacancies to arise in the year 2024, therefore, has resulted in gross prejudice to the petitioners.

Allegation of tainted recruitment and bar on promotion

The petitioners, appointed through the 1st Combined Jharkhand Civil Services Examination, 2006, were serving as additional collectors and became eligible for promotion to joint secretary after completing two and a half years in their current grade.

While their recruitment process had been under investigation by the CBI, no chargesheet had been filed against them by the time a Departmental Promotion Committee (DPC) convened on December 22, 2023.

The petitioners alleged that the state government miscalculated vacancies, claiming only 14 were available, whereas the petitioners asserted there were over 30 vacancies in the general category alone. Due to this error, they were not considered during the 2023 DPC. On April 20, 2024, the CBI filed a chargesheet naming the petitioners as beneficiaries of a “tainted” recruitment process.

When the state eventually held a DPC in March, 2025, it adopted the “sealed cover” procedure for the petitioners because of the pending chargesheet, while promoting their juniors. The petitioners argued that had the state correctly calculated vacancies and acted promptly in December 2023, they would have been promoted before the chargesheet ever existed.