Excelsior Correspondent
Srinagar, Apr 15: The High Court has upheld the promotion policy of University of Kashmir and dismissed the petition of its employees seeking promotion to the post of Assistant Registrars.
Justice Sanjay Dhar said the policy being on the basis of sanctioned strength of each category of posts, as such, no fault can be found with the policy of promotion framed by the respondent-University. “Therefore, it is not open to this Court to interfere in the impugned policy decision taken by the University”, the court concluded.
Justice Dhar said the Court would only step in to declare the impugned notification as illegal and issue a direction to the respondents to amend the policy relating to promotion to the posts of Assistant Registrars if it finds that the impugned policy is irrational and arbitrary. “…there is a sound logic to the criteria and ratio of different categories forming the feeding cadre to the promotion post of Assistant Registrar fixed by the respondents”, read the judgment.
The petitioners, who are working as Senior Personal Assistants with the University, had filed the instant writ petition challenging the criteria framed by the respondent for promotion to the post of Assistant Registrar. They were further seeking direction upon the respondent-University to fix the criteria for promotion to the post of Assistant Registrar from amongst Section Officers and Senior Personal Assistants on equal ratio basis.
According to the petitioners, the feeding cadre to the promotional post of Assistant Registrar is Section Officers, Senior Personal Assistants and Law Officers and all the three categories of officers have the same pay scale. It has been submitted that in the previous past, when the Law Officers were not included in the feeding cadre to the promotional post of Assistant Registrar, the ratio for promotion was fixed as 3:1 amongst the Section Officers and Senior Personal Assistants with five years’ experience.
Court said the Rules or executive instructions issued by the Executive in exercise of its lawful powers, cannot be interfered with by the Courts unless these Rules or executive instructions are arbitrary or irrational and it is not within the domain of the courts to determine as to whether the recruitment or promotion rules or instructions framed in a particular manner are acceptable or not.
“The Courts can interfere, if such rules or executive instructions are absolutely capricious or are not informed by reasons. A direction cannot be issued by Courts to the State or its authorities to frame promotion rules or policies in a particular manner. Framing of promotional policy is exclusively within the domain of the concerned authority”, Justice Dhar recorded.
The University stand before the court was that the total sanctioned strength of Section Officers is 76 whereas sanctioned strength of Senior Personal Assistants is seven and the sanctioned strength of Legal Assistants is three. However, the aggrieved petitioners have placed on record a document, which, according to them, has been obtained in response to an RTI query. As per this document, sanctioned strength of Senior Personal Assistants is nine.
“Thus, if we take the sanctioned strength of Section Officers as 76, sanctioned strength of Senior Personal Assistants as nine and that of Legal Assistants as three, the ratio works out to 76:9:3. The same is approximately equivalent to 9:2:1. Therefore, it cannot be stated that the respondents have, by fixing the aforesaid criteria, acted in an arbitrary or irrational manner. What the respondents have done by fixing the aforesaid ratio is that they have implemented the direction of the Court passed in one of the cases, as a consequence whereof, they have issued the impugned notification in the year 2015, as is clear from the perusal of the said notification”, the Court clarified.
Court concluded that the aggrieved petitioners, therefore, cannot have any grievance against the same merely because the chances of their promotion may have been reduced as compared to their chances when the Law Officers or Legal Assistants were not included in the feeding cadre for promotion to the posts of Assistant Registrars.
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