The Bombay High Court has ruled that promotions under the principle of seniority-cum-merit must be based on seniority within the feeder cadre, not the date of initial appointment. This decision clarifies that once an employee meets the minimum eligibility and merit requirements for a promotional post, their seniority in the immediate lower cadre becomes the determining factor. The court emphasized that the employer cannot revert to the date of entry into service to alter the promotional hierarchy, ensuring fairness and transparency in the promotion process.
The case involved a dispute between Executive Engineers of the Pune Municipal Corporation and the Departmental Promotion Committee (DPC) over the denial of promotion to the post of Superintending Engineer. The petitioners argued that a final seniority list of Executive Engineers was published on September 11, 2024, placing them senior to the private respondents. However, the DPC decided to consider promotions based on the date of initial appointment, using earlier government communications and a cut-off date of May 25, 2004, which effectively superseded the petitioners.
The court examined the Pune Municipal Corporation Service Rules, 2014, which mandate that appointments by promotion be made on the principle of seniority-cum-merit. It held that this principle requires assessing the candidate's merit and eligibility first, followed by granting promotion based on seniority in the feeder cadre. The court noted that neither the Service Rules nor the applicable Government Resolution of August 1, 2019, allowed seniority to be determined by the initial date of joining service for promotions to the Superintending Engineer post.
The High Court rejected the Corporation's reliance on government letters and subsequent resolutions, stating that executive communications cannot override statutory service rules framed under Article 309 of the Constitution. It further held that the Government Resolution of May 7, 2021, applied only to reserved category candidates and had no bearing on open category employees like the petitioners. The court also criticized the DPC's order for being cryptic and non-reasoned, failing to comply with earlier directions requiring a detailed consideration of the petitioners' representations.
As a result, the Bombay High Court quashed the impugned decision of the DPC and the consequential promotion process. It directed that promotions to the Superintending Engineer post be considered strictly based on the Final Seniority List dated September 11, 2024, ensuring a fair and transparent promotion process.
