The Tripura High Court dismissed a petition seeking a grant of monetary benefits after being granted a promotion from retrospective effect and held that the petitioner would be entitled to count his seniority from the said date but the monetary benefits would be available to him from the actual date of joining on the promoted post, as no salary can be paid for the period when the incumbent was not serving on the promoted post.

Brief Facts:

The petitioner was granted promotion based on an ad-hoc basis with retrospective effect on a notional basis from the date on which his immediate junior was promoted after he was wrongfully denied promotion due to a lack of clarity of the ACR of the petitioner. The petitioner filed the present petition claiming actual monetary benefits from the said date.

Contentions of the Applicant:

The learned counsel appearing for the petitioner contended that the petitioner has not been granted actual monetary benefits from the date of promotion even after the respondents accepted that they wrongfully denied promotion from that date.

Observations of the Court:

The court observed that the petitioner was granted promotion with retrospective effect from the date on which the immediate junior was promoted, however, such promotion was made on a notional basis. It was further stated that even though the petitioner has stated that he was denied promotion due to the fault of the respondents but actual monetary benefits of the promoted post are accruable from the date on which the incumbent joins the post.

It was further stated that respondents have acknowledged the legal claim of the petitioner for promotion from the date on which his immediate junior was promoted, but they have also indicated that because of a lack of clarity in the ACR of the petitioner and the action of the respondents cannot be thus said to be dehors any reason or justification.

The court stated that the petitioner would be entitled to count his seniority from the said date but the monetary benefits would be available to him from the actual date of joining on the promoted post, as no salary can be paid for the period when the incumbent was not serving on the promoted post.

The decision of the Court:

The court dismissed the petition and rejected the contention of the petitioner claiming monetary benefits from the said date.

Case Title: Manojit Nath vs State of Tripura and ors.

Coram: Hon’ble Mr. Justice Aparesh Kumar Singh

Case No.: WP(C) No. 500 of 2022

Advocate for the Applicant: Mr. A. Bhaumik and Mr. S. Dey and Mr. Ankan Tilak Paul

Advocate for the Respondent: Mr. M. Debbarma and Mr. Raju Datta

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