Govt can frame guidelines for promotion panel: CAT

The Central Administrative Tribunal has held that government can frame guidelines for departmental promotion committees and judiciary will not question its validity so long as it provides level playing field for all candidates.

"The government has a right to frame the guidelines for the DPCs and there cannot be any judicial interference in such case, unless the same are perverse or are drafted to favour a class of candidates," CAT vice chairman L K Joshi and member Meera Chhibber said.

The tribunal passed the order on a plea of a Delhi police sub-inspector, challenging the promotions made on the basis of 2008 circular which issued guidelines for the DPC to promote eligible police personnel.

The sub-inspector, Ram Niwas, contended that DPC should have followed 2005 guidelines for promotions and not the 2008 guidelines which was issued after creation of vacancies.

"The guidelines cannot be interfered with merely because these affect the applicant adversely," the tribunal said while dismissing his plea. The other candidates were promoted to the post of inspector on the basis of guidelines issued by the government on December 29, 2008, which was in place before the date of DPC meeting in which Niwas was also considered for the post.

"We have no doubt in our mind that only the guidelines in existence on the date of holding of DPC would apply. The DPC of January 13, 2009 could not have taken cognisance of the guidelines of February 7, 2005," the CAT said.

The executive has every right to amend the guidelines any time and the tribunal would not interfere with them as long as all the similarly placed candidates are treated uniformly on the basis of these guidelines, the tribunal said.