Judgment

Aftab Alam, J. —

1. Leave granted.

2. A dispute over promotion to the post of Chief Manager, Rajbhasha in Senior Manager Grade, Scale IV in the Central Bank of India has brought this matter to this Court. Respondent No.5 was granted promotion to the post on 19 May 1997 in preference to the Appellant. He challenged the promotion given to the respondent before the Bombay High Court in Writ Petition No. 1412 of 1997. The High Court dismissed the writ petition by Judgment and Order dated 24 November 2006. This appeal is filed against the Judgment of the High Court.

3. It would be useful to state at the beginning certain basic facts that are admitted or are, at any rate, undeniable as that would keep us from straying into issues that have no relevance to the dispute giving rise to this appeal. The promotion from Middle Management Grade (Scale III) to Senior Management Grade (Scale IV) is made on the principle of merit-cum-seniority from among officers who have completed five years’ satisfactory service in MMG scale III. The Bank’s Promotion Policy for Officers in clause 3.3 provides as follows.

“3.3. Promotion from Middle Management Grade Scale III to Senior Management Grade Scale I