JUDGMENT

1. The petitioner joined the Government service in February 1993 as a mamlatdar, which is a feeder category. As per the service regulations, he was eligible to the next promotional post, that is Junior Scale Officer, on his completing five years in the feeder category. And he completed his five years by 1998. That year, a Junior Scale Officer's vacancy arose under the reserved category (SC), to which the petitioner belongs. But, there was no DPC in 1998; there was one in 1999, though.

2. Nevertheless, in 1999 DPC the petitioner's name was not considered for promotion. By then, there was a vacancy, and the petitioner was eligible, too. Instead, in 2001 DPC, the petitioner's name was considered. At any rate, pending this process, on 28.02.2001 he was promoted on ad hoc basis.

3. In the above background, the petitioner represented to the Government that he should have been promoted "in the vacancy that arose in 1998". Then, the Goa Public Service Commission held a review DPC in 2012; this review relates to the DPC of 2000. In that review DPC, the authorities gave retrospective effect to the petitioner's promotion: from 17.04.2000.

4. On the petitioner's repeated representations,