JUDGMENT/ORDER

SANDEEP V.MARNE, J. - Rule. Rule made returnable forthwith. With the consent of the parties, petition is taken up for final hearing.

2. 'Sealed Cover Procedure' has by now become a familiar term in service jurisprudence. It essentially refers to deferring of action on recommendations of a Departmental Promotion Committee (DPC) till the officer concerned is cleared in departmental/judicial proceedings. In the meantime, secrecy is to be maintained in respect of those recommendations by keeping them in a 'sealed envelope'. Only in the event of the officer being exonerated/acquitted in departmental/ criminal proceedings, the sealed envelope is to be opened to find out whether the DPC had recommended his/her promotion. If recommended, he/she earns the promotion which was withheld during pendency of proceedings. This sealed cover procedure emanated out of instructions issued by the Government of India, to which, we have made a reference in our judgment. However, the exact eventualities in which as well as the correct time at which this 'sealed cover procedure' can be adopted has been a subject matter of debate in various decisions of the Apex Court. This is yet another case