The amendment mandating a Bachelor's Degree for certain promotions was constitutionally valid, emphasizing the employer's prerogative to set qualification standards related to job responsibilities.

ORDER :

1. In this batch of writ petitions, the petitioners herein have questioned the constitutional validity of notification dated 14-6-2021, whereby the Chhattisgarh Secretariat Service Recruitment Rules, 2012 (for short ‘the Rules of 2012’) have been amended inserting Bachelor’s Degree as qualification for appointment by promotion to the posts of Joint Secretary, Deputy Secretary, Under Secretary and Section Officer in serial Nos.1, 2, 3 and 7 of Schedule-IV, in addition to the requisite experience. All the posts with respect to which the challenge has been made, are 100% promotional posts.

2. Since common question of law and fact is involved in this batch of writ petitions, they have been clubbed together, heard together and are being disposed of by this common order.

3. The sole petitioner in WPS No.5528/2021 namely, Hardeo Ram Sahu retired from service and similarly, petitioner No.3 Tirth Prasad Ladiya, petitioner No.4 Anwarursheed Khan, petitioner No.12 Smt. Emerensia Xess and petitioner No.13 Janak Kumar in WPS No.829/2022 retired from service, during the pendency of writ petitions. Similarly, petitioner No.9 Ravindra Kumar Barsagade and petitioner No.10 Krishna Kumar Sharma in WPS No.6913/2021 retired from service during the pendency of writ petition.

Facts in Brief

4. Challenge to the amended rule has been made on the ground that amendment in the rule introducing the prescription of qualification of Bachelor’s Degree for the promotional posts is unreasonable, unfair and violative of their constitutional rights guaranteed under Articles 14 and 16 of the Constitution of India, as it is the case of the petitioners that the respondent State has not given any explanation in the counter-affidavit filed before this Court as to what is the need/requirement of adding the additional educational qualification of Bachelor’s Degree for the promotional posts of Joint Secretary, Deputy Secretary, Under Secretary and Section Officer. It is the case of the petitioners that it was the duty of the State to assign reason to bring any amendment in the rules and it must reflect reasonable, fair and not grossly unjust, however, in the present case, no such reason has been mentioned which is unreasonable and unfair on the part of the State and as such, violative of the petitioners’ rights guaranteed under Articles 14 and 16 of the Constitution. It is the further case of the petitioners that the aforesaid amendment has been made only in Schedule-IV of the Rules of 2012 and no amendment has been made in the substantive provision of Rule 14 of the Rules of 2012 which deals with Conditions of Eligibility for Promotion and introduction of educational qualification of Bachelor’s Degree is totally unnecessary, as they are working for fairly long time on the feeder post and some of them had already retired from service.

5. The State of Chhattisgarh has filed return stating inter alia that it is purely the prerogative of the State Government to amend the rules regulating promotion and rules can be altered by the State Government unilaterally, the petitioners have no vested right of promotion, mere chance of promotion is not a condition of service and the petitioners have no enforceable right to challenge the rule by which the educational qualification of Bachelor’s Degree has been prescribed for promotion to higher posts as it is full of responsibility considering the nature of work performed by the promotees. Educational qualification of Bachelor’s Degree has been added for t