An employee cannot claim promotion as a matter of right; they have a right to be considered based on merit and performance appraisal criteria.

ORAL ORDER

The petitioner filed this writ petition seeking for following reliefs:

"i. Call for records leading to the publication of Select list dated 18.05.2022

ii. Call for records in connection with the Vigilance case contemplated against Mr. Thakur Desai, Sr. General Manager/Respondent No.2.

iii. Issue a writ in the nature of Certiorari quashing the Selection List dated 18.05.2022 by which the Respondent No. 2 have declared a list of officers/ Respondents No. 5 to 11 who have been selected for promotion to the post of Deputy General Manager as per ANNEXURE -P.

iv. Issue an appropriate order or direction to the Respondents No. 1 to 3 to grant promotion to the petitioner with effect from September, 2008 to the Post of AGM by protecting his seniority since then and also granting consequential benefits at all stages protecting his seniority over his juniors who have superseded the petitioner on being deprived of promotion since 2008.

v. Issue an appropriate writ in the nature of Mandamus directing the Respondents No.1 to 3 to consider the case of the Petitioner for upgradation of the entries in the Annual Appraisal Reports.

vi. Issue an appropriate writ in the nature of Mandamus directing the Respondents No. 1 to 3 to prepare a fresh list of candidates including the name of the Petitioner for promotion to the post of Deputy General Manager.

vii. Issue any other appropriate writ, order or direction that deems fit to grant in the circumstances of the case in the interest of justice and equity."

2. Brief facts leading rise to the filing of this petition are as follows:

2.1. Respondents No.1 to 4 offered the petitioner the post of Deputy Manager on 15.03.1996. The petitioner accepted the offer of the respondents on 15.04.1996 and the petitioner was appointed as a Deputy Manager in the service of respondents No.1 to 4 with effect from 28.03.1996. After having served as Deputy Manager for a period of 5 years 7 months, petitioner was promoted as a Manager and transferred to Salboni Unit in West Bengal. The name of the petitioner was considered in the zone of consideration in 2008 for regular promotion to the post of Assistant General Manager ('AGM' for short). The petitioner appeared for the interview held on 05.09.2008 before the Selection Committee, but the name of the petitioner was excluded from the list of selected candidates. The petitioner submitted a representation to the management to re-consider his case for promotion to higher grade in the light of the judgment of the Hon'ble Apex Court in the case of Dev Dutt Vs. Union of India , (2008) 8 SCC 725 The petitioner, on fulfilling all the requisite criteria for personal promotion duly assessed by the Committee constituted, was granted the benefits of the personal promotion to the post of AGM grade with effect from 05.11.2008. The respondent-Company denied the regular promotion to the post of AGM to the petitioner during 2008, 2011 and 2014 on the ground that his Annual Performance Appraisal Report (APAR) ratings of the preceding three years considered for the promotion to the higher grade were lesser than his juniors promoted to the higher post. After rendering 15 years of long unblemished service in Manager's post/AGM-PP, the petitioner was promoted to the post of AGM on regular basis on 09.06.2016. The petitioner was informed by the respondent-Company that his name has been included in the zone of consideration for promotion to the post of DGM and advised the petitioner to keep himself in readiness to attend the interview. The petitioner was advised to appear for the interview to the post of DGM at Mysore on 13.05.2