The Delhi High Court ruled that government employees cannot be denied promotion due to administrative delays in their appointment, emphasizing that such delays are not their fault and should not impact their career advancement or eligibility.
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NEW DELHI: In a ruling protecting the rights of government employees, the Delhi High Court has upheld an order granting promotion to two senior officers of the Indian Ordnance Factories Service (IOFS), observing that administrative delay in their appointment could not be held against them for not meeting the qualifying service criteria.
A Division Bench comprising Justice Navin Chawla and Justice Madhu Jain dismissed a writ petition filed by the Union Government challenging the Central Administrative Tribunal’s (CAT) direction to promote the two officers.
Case Background
The dispute arose when two senior IOFS officers from the 2006 batch were denied promotion to the Junior Administrative Grade (JAG) due to insufficient qualifying service. Although they were selected in 2007, their appointment letters were issued only in 2008 because of administrative delays such as document verification.
Meanwhile, a junior candidate, who had received his appointment letter earlier in 2007, joined service ahead of them and subsequently became eligible for promotion under the relaxed norms.
Feeling aggrieved, the senior officers approached the Central Administrative Tribunal, which directed the government to grant them promotion. The Union Government later challenged this decision before the Delhi High Court.
Court’s Observations
The Bench noted that both senior officers were admittedly senior to the junior employee in the selection process. However, due to administrative reasons beyond their control, their appointment letters were delayed.
The Court stated:
“It is not the case of the petitioners that the delay was caused by respondent nos. 1 and 2 in any manner. In our view, the learned Tribunal has rightly given the above directions to the petitioners.”
The Court further held that the Departmental Promotion Committee (DPC) could not deny promotion merely on the ground that the officers did not technically meet the service criteria when the delay in joining was caused by the administration itself.
The Delhi High Court ultimately dismissed the writ petition, affirming that employees should not suffer due to bureaucratic delays for which they are not responsible.
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Appearances:
Petitioner: Advocates Himanshu Pathak, Amit Singh
Respondent: Central Government Standing Counsel Syed Abdul Haseeb, Advocate Nasreen
Case Title:
Union of India & Anr. v. Amit Kumar Yadav & Ors.
W.P.(C) 15978/2025, CM APPL. 65387/2025, CM APPL. 65388/2025 & CM APPL. 65389/2025
READ ORDER
