$~47 * IN THE HIGH COURT OF DELHI AT NEW DELHI Date of Decision: 25.02.2026 + W.P.(C) 2635/2026, CM APPL. 12793/2026 and CM APPL.

12794/2026 UNION OF INDIA AND ORS .....Petitioners Through: Mr. Himanshu Pathak, Adv.

versus MS. CHETANA KANDPAL AND ORS .....Respondents Through: None.

CORAM:

HON'BLE MR. JUSTICE ANIL KSHETARPAL HON'BLE MR. JUSTICE AMIT MAHAJAN J U D G M E N T (ORAL) ANIL KSHETARPAL, J.:

1. By way of the present Petition, the Petitioners assail the correctness of the order dated 24.12.2024 [hereinafter referred to as ‘Impugned Order’] passed by the learned Central Administrative Tribunal, Principal Bench, New Delhi [hereinafter referred to as ‘Tribunal’] in O.A. No.3957/2024 titled Ms. Chetana Kandpal vs.

Union of India & Ors.

2. By the Impugned Order, the Tribunal disposed of the aforesaid Original Application with a direction to the competent authority amongst the Petitioners to notify the new Recruitment Rules [‘RRs’] within a period of two months from the date of receipt of the certified copy of the order. The said direction pertained to the proposed RRs governing promotion to the Junior Time Scale [‘JTS’] in the Indian Corporate Law Service [‘ICLS’], Ministry of Corporate Affairs. The Tribunal further directed that in the event the new RRs are not notified within the stipulated period, the Petitioners shall proceed with the draft RRs finalized at the Ministry level while conducting future Departmental Promotion Committees [‘DPCs’].

3. The Respondents herein, who were Applicants before the Tribunal, are Company Prosecutors serving in the ICLS, a Group ‘A’ service under the Ministry of Corporate Affairs. Under the ICLS RRs, 2015, promotion to JTS is stipulated as 60% by Direct Recruitment and 40% by Promotion. The feeder cadres include, inter alia, Company Prosecutor and Senior Technical Assistant, the other feeder categories, namely Superintendent-cum-Accountant and Investigating Officer, being stated to be presently non-functional. The Rules, however, do not prescribe any inter se quota or ratio between the feeder cadres for the purposes of promotion.

4. At the outset, it is required to be noticed that the Impugned Order was passed on 24.12.2024. The present Writ Petition has been instituted in February, 2026, more than one year thereafter. Admittedly, during this entire period, the direction issued by the Tribunal has not been complied with.

5. On a specific query from the Court as to what prevented the Petitioners from either complying with the Impugned Order or approaching this Court within a reasonable time, learned counsel for the Petitioners candidly submitted that the concerned file was under administrative consideration and was moving at various levels, and that a final decision was awaited. The explanation does not satisfactorily justify the delay and reflects prolonged administrative inaction.

6. It is pertinent to note that even prior to the present Original Application, similarly situated employees had approached the Tribunal by filing O.A. No. 249/2023 raising grievances regarding stagnation in promotional avenues. By order dated 12.04.2023, the Tribunal directed the authorities to decide the representations of the employees within four weeks and thereafter proceed in accordance with law. Despite such directions, the issue has remained unresolved.

7. The record further reflects that draft Recruitment Rules proposing, inter alia, fixation of a ratio between Company Prosecutors and Senior Technical Assistants for promotion to the JTS were prepared and finalized at the Ministry level as early as 08.01.2024. As reflected in the counter affidavit filed before the Tribunal, the proposal incorporating a 4:7 ratio between the two feeder cadres stood finalized at the Ministry level and was under process for notification. However, despite the lapse of considerable time, the said Rules have not been notified.

8. It has also been brought to the notice of this Court that the DPC for vacancy years 2022 and 2023 was at the