Promotion rules proviso deems seniors eligible with minimum three years regular service, placed above junior eligible via combined ad hoc and regular service, barring department from delaying DPC until seniors complete eight years.

JUDGMENT :

Sandeep Sharma, J.

By way of instant petition, petitioner has prayed for following main reliefs:

“(i) That the Respondent Department may be directed to immediately convene DPC as per the seniority list (Annexure P-2) and order promotion of the petitioner if found eligible.
(ii) That in case during the pendency of the writ petition the DPC for promotion to the post of Executive Engineer is convened by ignoring the petitioner, the same may be held illegal qua the petitioner and directions may be issued to the Department for convening of review DPC.
(iii) That in case the petitioner is retired from service during the pendency of the Writ Petition the Department may be directed to consider the petitioner for promotion to the post of Executive Engineer from due date with all consequential benefits.”

2. Precisely, the grouse of the petitioner, who at present is working as Assistant Engineer in the Public Works Department, is that in terms of Recruitment & Promotion Rules, framed by the respondent-department, for promotion to the post of Executive Engineer, he ought to have been considered for promotion to the post of Executive Engineer, in its meeting held on 30.10.2025 and 04.11.2025, but yet for wholly unjustifiable reasons, his case has been kept in abeyance on the ground that till the time persons senior to him do not complete eight years of regular service as Assistant Engineer, petitioner herein cannot be promoted.

3. Mr. Hamender Singh Chandel, learned counsel representing the petitioner, while making this Court peruse Recruitment & Promotion Rules (Annexure P-1) framed by the respondent-department for promotion to the post of Executive Engineer, submitted that 30% of post of Executive Engineer under promotion quota are to be filled up from amongst the Diploma Holder Assistant Engineers (Civil) with five years of regular service or regular combined with continuous ad hoc service rendered, if any, in the grade, failing which by promotion from amongst the Degree Holder Assistant Engineers (Civil) with five years regular service or regular combined with continuous ad hoc service rendered, if any, in the grade and vice versa. He submitted that since petitioner herein has already completed more than eight years of regular service, coupled with the fact that he has also qualified the departmental examination, he deserves to be considered for promotion to the post of Executive Engineer, especially when process for effecting notional promotion to the post of Executive Engineer was initiated by the department. He also invited attention of this Court to Rule 11 Sub-Clause (1) (available at page No.20 of the paper-book), to state that in all cases of promotion, the continuous ad hoc service rendered in the feeder post, if any, prior to regular appointment to the post shall be taken into account towards the length of service as prescribed in Rules for promotion, subject to the condition that the ad hoc appointment/promotion in the feeder category had been made after following proper process of selection in accordance with the provisions of Recruitment & Promotion Rules. He submitted that in case a junior person becomes eligible for consideration by virtue of his total length of service including the service rendered on ad hoc basis, followed by regular service/appointment in the feeder post, all persons senior to him in respective category/post/cadre shall be deemed to be eligible for consideration and placed above the junior person in the field of consideration. He submitted that since it is not in dispute that all the persons