Madras High Court· 23 July 2026

Is promotion a vested right, or merely a right to be considered for promotion?

P.Ashok Nataraja Additional Superintendent of Police, A1/6, AC Quarters, 3rd Avenue, Anna Nagar, Chennai-600 040 v. 1. The State of Tamil Nadu By its Secretary, Department of Home, Secretariat, Fort St.George, Chennai - 600 009

WP No. 4543 of 2019 · WP No. 4543 of 2019
Coram: Justice S.M.Subramaniam · Justice N.Senthilkumar

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Answer

Promotion is not a vested right; only consideration for promotion in accordance with the service records of the officer is a right of the employee. Mere inclusion in a promotion panel is procedural and confers no right, which accrues only when actual promotion is granted.

Headnote

Tamilnadu Government Servants (Conditions of Service) Act, 2016 — Schedule XI, Item 11, Part A — Promotion — Currency of punishment as bar — Tamilnadu Government Servants (Conditions of Service) Act, 2016 — Schedule XI Item 11 — Promotion — Currency of punishment bars panel inclusion — Held: Promotion is not a vested right; consideration for promotion is a right of the employee, to be made in accordance with service records. Mere inclusion in a panel is procedural and confers no right, which accrues only on actual grant of promotion. (¶7) Tamilnadu Government Servants (Conditions of Service) Act, 2016 — Schedule XI Item 11 — Retrospective effect — Pre-existing bar under Government Orders unaffected — Held further: Currency of punishment was a bar to promotion under Government Orders even prior to the Conditions of Service Act, 2016, and the challenge to Item 11 Part A of Schedule XI was not relevant since the punishment was imposed in 2005, before the panel year 2008-09 and before the Act itself. (¶5) Tamilnadu Government Servants (Conditions of Service) Act, 2016 — Schedule XI Item 11 — Panel exclusion — Modified minor punishment does not entitle retrospective inclusion — Held further: Non-inclusion of the petitioner's name in the 2008-09 panel on the ground of currency of punishment was justified notwithstanding subsequent modification of the punishment to postponement of increment, and the Government's refusal to grant retrospective promotion warranted no interference. Writ petition dismissed. (¶6, 8)

In the Court's own words

Paragraph 7The principles for grant of promotions are now settled. Promotion is not a vested right. Consideration for promotion is a right of employee. Consideration must be made in accordance with the Service Records of the individual officers. Consideration for inclusion is procedural and therefore mere inclusion in the panel would not confer any right. Right would accrue only if actual promotion is granted to an officer. In the present case, the name of the petitioner was not even considered for inclusion in the panel for the year 2008-09 on the ground that he suffered punishment and currency of punishment was in force. Therefore, the Government has taken a decision not to grant retrospective promotion to the petitioner based on the conditions stipulated in the Government Orders for grant of promotion. Such Government Orders are subsequently made as Conditions of Service Act and that being the factum, this Court does not find any merit to grant the relief as such sought for in the writ petition.

Paragraph 7The Secretary to the Govt., Personnel and Administrative Reforms Department, Secretariat, Chennai. S.M.SUBRAMANIAM J. AND N.SENTHILKUMAR J. KST AND WMP NO. 5132 OF 2019 23-07-2026

Acts & Sections

Item (11) Part A of Schedule XI of Tamilnadu Government Servants (Conditions of Service) Act, 2016

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Also decided in this judgment

Under the Tamilnadu Government Servants (Conditions of Service) Act, 2016, does currency of punishment bar inclusion in a promotion panel even where the bar predates the Act?

Plain-language answer prepared by the LexStreak Editorial Desk — verify against the judgment. Source: Madras High Court. Corrections