SHARMA, J.— The question which has been referred to the larger Bench & which is to be decided may be extracted and it reads as under : —

"Whether while considering the case for promotion the minor penalty of stoppage of annual grade increments of one or more than one shall not be considered by the D.P.C. and if considered as a result of which a Government servant is not found fit to be promoted, it will amount to double jeopardy."

(2) The necessity of reference of the aforesaid question arose because A Division Bench of this Court in the case of Prem Chand Kasliwal V. State of Rajasthan and others, (1) took a view that consideration of the minor penalty while considering the case for promotion and denying the promotion will amount to double jeopardy. In other words, in the case of Prem Chand Kasliwal (supra), a view has been taken that if on the basis of minor penalty of stoppage of annual grade increments without cumulative effect the promotion is with-held, it will mean that the Government servant has been punished twice, firstly by stoppage of annual grade increments without cumulative effect and secondly by with holding his promotion to the higher post.

(3) Rule 14 of the Rajasthan Civil Services (Classification, Control & Appeal) Rules, 1958 (for short, the CCA, Rules) enumerate the penalties which can be imposed on a government servant in the disciplinary proceedings. It appears from a reading of the aforesaid rule 14 that the penalties which can be imposed on a government servant are : —

(i) Censure;

(ii) with-holding of increments or promotion;

(iii) recovery from pay of the whole or part of any pecuniary loss caused to the Government by negligence or breach of any law, rule or order;

(iv) reduction to a lower service, grade or post or to a lower time scale or to a lower stage in the time scale or in the case of pension to an amount lower than that due under the rules;

(v) compulsory retirement on proportionate pension;

(vi) removal from service which shall not be a disqualification for further employment;

(vii) dismissal from service which shall ordinarily be a disqualification for future employment.

(4) Whereas the penalties mentioned in clauses (i) to (iii) of rule 14, are minor penalties, the penalties in clause (iv) to (vii) are major. The procedure for imposing minor penalty is provided in rule 17 and the procedure for imposing major penalty is provided in rule 16 of the CCA Rules. The law is settled that an employee has no vested right for promotion and the only right in a government servant is that he is entitled to be considered for promotion to the higher post when he becomes due and eligible for it in accordance with the rules which govern the conditions of his service. While considering the case for promotion of a government servant, the entire service record i.e. the Annual Performance Appraisal Reports and other record, if any, is to be considered, though no doubt as a result of the decisions of various courts weight age is given to the record of last 5 to 10 years, has to be examined objectively and not subjectively. Therefore, even if any minor penalty including stoppage of annual grade increments without cumulative effect, is inflicted on a government servant, the Departmental Promotion Committee (DPC) or any other competent authority has to consider the entire record including the penalties inflicted on a government servant in any disciplinary proceedings and for that matter even the minor penalty of stoppage of annual grade increments has also to be looked into and considered. In the case of Prem Cl. and Kasliwal (supra) a Division Bench of this Court placed reliance on the case of Shiv Kumar Sharma vs. Haryana State Electricity Board, Chandigarh and others, (2). It was not a case of promotion but the Apex Court was considering the case of Shiv Kumar who had been appointed on probation and completed the probationary period on June 10, 1965. There were disciplinary proceedings in which a penalty of stoppage of a

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