Judicial precedence holds that past penalties cannot affect promotion eligibility once their effects have lapsed, ensuring fair assessment for candidates.

ORDER

PER:-RAJVEER SINGH VERMA, MEMBER [J]

1. The applicants filed the OA for following relief: -

“8.1 That your Lordships may graciously be pleased to call for the Minutes of Selection Committee held on 26.07.2024 for the Select List-2023 in respect of appointment/promotion of the officers of the State Civil Service of Bihar to the Indian Administrative Service, issued vide Notification dated 12.08.2024 as contained in Annexure A/1 wherein applicant has been excluded without any disclosed reason whereas his two juniors at Serial No.19 and 20 including respondent No.5 has been included for induction to the IAS cadre.

8.2 That your Lordships may graciously be pleased to hold and declare the impugned action of respondents No.1 and 2 in not recommending/including the name of applicant above his juniors including respondent No.5 as per-se- illegal, arbitrary, unjust, punitive and without any cogent reason.

8.3 That your Lordships may graciously be pleased to direct/command the respondents No.1 and 2 to include the name of applicant against Select List- 2023 below serial No.18 i.e. Sri Akhilesh Kumar Singh and above his juniors including Sri Atul Kumar Verma placed at serial No.20 in the said Notification dated 12.08.2024 as contained in Annexure A/1. for promotion to the Indian Administrative Service without any delay.

8.4 That your Lordships may graciously be pleased to direct/command the respondents to issue Corrigendum, notifying the name of applicant to the Indian Administrative Service either at par with his juniors who have been placed from Serial No.19 and 20 or after deleting the name of his one of his junior placed at serial No.20 against Select List-2023 as contained in Annexure A/1.

8.5 That your Lordships may further be pleased to direct/command the respondents to grant all consequential benefits for which applicant is legally entitled too.

8.6 Any other relief or reliefs may deem fit and proper by this Hon'ble Court including the cost of the proceeding may be allowed in favor of the Applicant.”

2. Brief facts of the case are that applicant is an officer of Bihar Administrative Service (State Civil Service), 1996, 39^th BPSC Batch and was appointed on 04.01.1996. That respondent authority has issued a Civil List-2023 on 01.01.2023 for BAS wherein applicant has been placed at Sl. No. 174 against 39^th BPSC Batch and name of his juniors i.e. Sri Rajesh Bharti and Atul Kr. Verma has been placed at Sl. No. 176 and 178 respectively in the same 39^th BPSC Batch. That applicant has outstanding grade in his last 5 years of his APAR for the period from 2018-2023.

3. Thereafter, applicant has been placed under suspension from 09.02.2009 to 18.01.2010 and a departmental proceeding was initiated under Rule- 14 of the Bihar Government Servant (Classification, Control and Appeal) Rules, 2005 for the allegation of negligence in execution of the scheme while posted as Block Development Officer, Gaighat, Muzaffarpur in which punishment of Censure for the year 2005-06 and stoppage of two increments with Non-Cumulative effect was imposed against which applicant has filed review/appeal but the same was rejected on 16.06.2017 against which applicant has filed a writ petition before Hon'ble High Court, vide CWJC No.13155 of 2017 which was disposed of on 03.12.2018 with clear observation in para-4 of the order holding that "when the effect of the punishment is over, it will not be taken into consideration while granting any benefit to the petitioner in the nature of promotion or otherwise and the authority will decide the case of petitioner on its merit".

4. It is further noticed that