Does mere inclusion of a name in a promotion panel confer any right to claim promotion?

Service Law — Promotion — Empanelment — Cancellation of panel in entirety — Right to promotion — Railway Protection Force — Head Constables to Assistant Sub-Inspector —

Service law — Promotion — Empanelment —

Held: Promotion per se is not a vested right; consideration for promotion is the right. Mere empanelment, selection, participation in the selection process or publication of a selection list does not confer any right to claim promotion; a right accrues only when actual promotion is granted. (¶2, 5)

Service law — Cancellation of selection —

Held further: The employer is well within its powers to cancel the selection in entirety; the Railway Board's cancellation of the panel, taken in view of an interim order and pending litigation before the Supreme Court, was upheld. Writ appeals allowed; writ petitions dismissed. (¶3, 6, 8)

Does mere inclusion of a name in a promotion panel confer any right to claim promotion?

No. Mere inclusion of a name in a promotion panel does not confer any right to claim promotion. The Court restated the governing principles: promotion per se is not a vested right, consideration for promotion is the employee's fundamental right, and neither empanelment, selection, participation in the selection process nor publication of a selection list confers a right, which accrues only when actual promotion is granted. [¶2, ¶5]

Is the employer well within its powers to cancel a selection for promotion in entirety?

Yes. The employer is well within its powers to cancel a selection in entirety. The panel had been cancelled because the Railway Board held its promotion circular in abeyance following a status quo order of the Supreme Court and pending litigation, and nobody had been posted on the basis of the panel. Acting on it would unsettle promotion and seniority and invite retrospective claims from everyone else on the panel. [¶3, ¶6]

What did the High Court finally decide on the writ appeals against the direction to promote on the cancelled panel?

The writ appeals were allowed and the writ petitions seeking promotion on the cancelled panel were dismissed. The writ orders directing promotion and posting were set aside, and the Court declined to consider the reservation-in-promotion issues dealt with by the Writ Court as no longer res integra. There was no order as to costs. [¶7, ¶8]

“2. The governing principles for grant of promotion are that: a) Promotion per se is not a vested right. b) Consideration for promotion is the fundamental right of an employee c) Mere empanelment or procedures followed for grant of promotion would not confer any right to claim promotion. d) Right will accrue only if actual promotion has been granted to an employee e) Mere selection would not confer any right to claim promotion/appointment f) Mere participation in the selection process including written examination or publication of selection list also would not confer any right.”

“3. The employer is well within their powers to cancel the selection in entirety.”

“5. Question arises whether the empanelment proceedings per se would confer any right to claim promotion and posting. As stated above, mere participation in the selection nor inclusion of the name in the panel would not confer any right to claim promotion.”

“6. Learned counsel for the appellant brought to the notice of this Court that empanelment proceedings was cancelled in entirety on account of the order of status quo granted by the Hon’ble Supreme Court in S.L.P. (C).No.30621/2011 dated 03.02.2016. Based on the Supreme Court order, the Railway Board passed the order of cancellation vide proceedings dated 30.09.2016 which reads as follows: In view of the above assurance received from the Ld.Solicitor General of India it is advised that Railway board’s RBE No.126/2010 dated 01.09.2010 is held in abeyance with immediate effect till lfurther advice and all further promotions of reserved ctegory persons to unreserved posts will not be made by ignoring Railway Board’s RBE No.126/2010 dated 01.09.2010 which in turn was based upon the DoP&T’s OM dated 10.08.2010 & under reference No.(i) & (ii) above. However, all promotions order henceforth shall be subject to outcome fothe main sLPs and the above mentioned contempt petitin which are still pending. The above may please be brought to the notice of all concerned for information and strict compliance. Therefore, the decision to cancel the empanelment was taken by the railway administration due to pendency of litigation before the Hon’ble Supreme Court of India and nobody was given posting order based on the empanelment dated 29.08.2016. Thus, in the event of considering the case of the respondents in the present case., it would not only unsettle the promotion and seniority but all other persons included in the empanelment or persons subsequently promoted will also claim benefits with retrospective effect which would result in opening Pandora’s box.”