IMPORTANT POINT
The court emphasized the fundamental right to promotion and directed the consideration of the petitioner's seniority and promotion claims after disciplinary proceedings concluded.

JUDGMENT :

(Manish Choudhury, J.)

1. In this writ petition preferred by the writ petitioner under Article 226 of the Constitution of India, the writ petitioner has highlighted his grievances regarding non-fixation of his seniority position as well as non-fixation of his inter se seniority position in the cadre of Deputy Registrar for a period of about twenty-twenty two years till about his retirement from service on reaching the age of superannuation. The petitioner’s condition of service used to be regulated by the Gauhati High Court Services [Appointment, Conditions of Service and Conduct] Rules, 1967. The petitioner joined service on 08.09.1990 and his date of retirement from service on reaching the age of superannuation of 60 years is 30.09.2024. In this writ petition, the petitioner highlighted about his service of more than twenty-twenty two years in the post/cadre of Deputy Registrar from 12.08.2002 to 30.09.2024 and his stagnation therein whereas there were a nos. of promotions from the post/cadre of Deputy Registrar to the next higher posts/cadres of officers whose inter se seniority positions, according to the petitioner, ought to have been below him, as they were juniors to the petitioner in service.

2. To the writ petition, an affidavit-in-opposition has been filed on behalf of the sole respondent traversing the contentions made in the writ petition. The background facts, which have emerged from the pleadings in the writ petition and the affidavit-in-opposition, are exposited in the following paragraphs.

2.1. The petitioner initially came to be appointed on 08.09.1990 as a Lower Division Clerk [LDC] at the Aizwal Bench of the Gauhati High Court. On being so appointed, the petitioner joined his service at the Aizwal Bench of the Gauhati High Court. The petitioner was promoted to the post of Upper Division Clerk [UDC] in April, 1992 when he was serving at the Aizwal Bench. The petitioner had thereafter, made a prayer for his inter-cadre transfer from the Aizwal Bench of the High Court to the Principal Seat of the High Court in Guwahati. The petitioner has averred that for such inter-cadre transfer, he consented to forego his promotion to the post of UDC and his seniority as LDC at the Aizwal Bench. On the basis of such prayer of the petitioner, the petitioner was brought on inter-cadre transfer from the Aizwal Bench of the High Court to the Principal Seat of the High Court in Guwahati as the junior-most Lower Division Assistant [LDA] by an Order dated 23.06.1992. Accordingly, the petitioner joined in the post of LDA on 04.07.1992 at the Principal Seat of the High Court. In essence, the petitioner was reborn in the cadre of LDA of the Principal Seat as the junior-most LDA and his past services in the cadre of LDC and UDC at the Aizwal Bench were wiped out.

2.2. At the Principal Seat, the petitioner was promoted from time to time. By a Notification dated 21.07.2003, the petitioner was promoted to the post of Deputy Registrar w.e.f. 12.08.2002.

2.3. While the petitioner was serving as the Deputy Registrar, the petitioner was placed under suspension with immediate effect by an Order dated 16.11.2005 pending initiation of disciplinary proceeding against him. During such period of suspension, the petitioner was served with a Show Cause Notice dated 23.06.2006 in connection with the disciplinary proceeding drawn against him whereby five charges were leveled against him. The charges leveled against the petitioner related to his prosecuting the LL.B. Course during the period from 2001 to 2003 from one Royal Academy of Law, Manipur without obtaining prior permission from the competent authority of the High Court.

2.4. The disciplinary proceeding so initiated against the petitioner, came to be culminated by an Order dated 18.12.2006, whereby, the petitioner was imposed with the major penalty of reversion to the post of Assistant Registrar. There was a further direction in the Order dated 18.12.2006 to make the petitioner the junior-m