Uttarakhand High Court
Kailash Chandra Petwal vs Union Of India & Others on 6 December, 2023
Author: Manoj Kumar Tiwari
Bench: Manoj Kumar Tiwari
IN THE HIGH COURT OF UTTARAKHAND
AT NAINITAL
HON'BLE THE ACTING CHIEF JUSTICE SRI MANOJ KUMAR TIWARI
AND
HON'BLE SRI JUSTICE VIVEK BHARTI SHARMA
WRIT PETITION (S/B) NO. 155 OF 2023
06TH DECEMBER, 2023
Kailash Chandra Petwal .....Petitioner.
Versus
Union of India & others ....Respondents.
With
WRIT PETITION (S/B) NO. 165 OF 2023
Umraw Singh Negi .....Petitioner.
Versus
Union of India & others ....Respondents.
With
WRIT PETITION (S/B) NO. 166 OF 2023
Shankar Lal .....Petitioner.
Versus
Union of India & others ....Respondents.
Counsel for the Petitioner(s) : Mr. M.C. Pant, learned counsel.
Counsel for the Respondent Nos.2, 3 & 5 : Dr. Kartikey Hari Gupta, learned
counsel.
Counsel for the Respondent No.4 : Ms. Anjali Bhargava, learned
counsel.
The Court made the following:
COMMON JUDGMENT:
(per Hon'ble The Acting Chief Justice Sri Manoj Kumar Tiwari)
Since common questions of fact and law are
involved in these writ petitions, therefore, these petitions are
clubbed together and are being heard and decided together.
However, for the sake of brevity and convenience, facts of
Writ Petition (S/B) No.155 of 2023 along are being
considered.
2. Petitioner is serving as Assistant Professor in
Hemwati Nandan Bahuguna Garhwal University (for short
"HNBGU"). He applied for promotion under the Career
Advancement Scheme in terms of Regulations 6.3 (VI)(i) &
(ii), of the UGC Regulations which are extracted below :
"(i) If a candidate applies for promotion on completion
of the minimum eligibility period and is successful, the date of
promotion shall be from that of minimum period of eligibility.
(ii) If, however, the candidate finds that he/ she would
fulfils the CAS promotion criteria, as defined in Tables 1, 2, 4
and 5 of Appendix II at a later date and applies on that date
and is successful, his/ her promotion shall be effected from
that date of the candidate fulfilling the eligibility criteria".
3. Petitioner appeared before the Selection Committee
and on the recommendation of Selection Committee,
petitioner was given promotion to the post of Associate
Professor. However, such promotion was given only with
effect from the date of joining on the promoted post and not
from the date of eligibility. Thus, feeling aggrieved, petitioner
has approached this Court.
4. Learned counsel for the petitioner submits that
identical issue has been decided by Co-ordinate Bench of this
Court by judgment dated 27.04.2023, in Writ Petition (S/B)
No.128 of 2021. He relies upon Paragraph No.7 of the said
judgment, which is reproduced below.
"7. On a plain reading of the Regulations, both of the
year 2010 and of the year 2018, it is clear that they, in no
uncertain terms, provide that once a candidate is found to be
eligible for promotion, the date of his promotion, necessarily,
has to be read as the date on which he became eligible for
promotion. Thus, the date, on which his case is considered for
promotion is irrelevant. The only mandate of the Selection
Committee is to consider whether the candidate is eligible, or
not. Once a candidate is found eligible, he is bound to be
given his promotion from the date of his eligibility. The only
exception to this Rule is where a candidate does not succeed
in the first assessment, and he is re-assessed. In that regard,
Regulation 6.3.12(c) of the UGC Regulations, 2010 provided
that "If the candidate does not succeed in the first
assessment, but succeeds in the eventual assessment,
his/her promotion will be deemed to be from the later date of
successful assessment." Similarly, Regulation 6.3(VI)(iii) of
the UGC Regulations, 2018 provides that "The candidate who
does not succeed in the first assessment, he/she shall have to
be re-assessed only after one year. When such a candidate
succeeds in the eventual assessment, his/her promotion shall
be deemed to be one year from the date of rejection."
5. Dr. Kartikey Hari Gupta, learned counsel for the
University also do not dispute the submission made by
learned counsel for the petitioner, and fairly submits that the
issue involved in these writ petitions is squarely covered by
the judgment rendered in Writ Petition (S/B) No.128 of 2021.
He, however, submits that research papers/ publications of
the petitioner were found to be of inferior quality, therefore,
petitioner was given promotion only from the date of joining.
6. The contention raised on behalf of the respondent-
University is without any substance. Once the Selection
Committee finds that petitioner is eligible for promotion under
Career Advancement Scheme, upon evaluation of his research
papers/ publications, then promotion has to be given from the
date of eligibility. There is no provision in the UGC
Regulations which enables the University to restrict promotion
only from the date of joining. This aspect has been dealt with
by co-ordinate bench in Writ Petition (S/B) No. 128 of 2021.
7. In such view of the matter, writ petitions are
allowed and impugned order dated 03.11.2022 is quashed.
The University is directed to give promotion to the
petitioner(s) from the date of their eligibility with all
consequential benefits.
8. Pending application, if any, also stands disposed of.
(MANOJ KUMAR TIWARI, A.C.J.)
(VIVEK BHARTI SHARMA, J.)
Dated: 06th December, 2023
NISHANT
