Promotion of Government servants against whom Disciplinary Proceedings are Pending

No. 22011/4/2007-Estt. (D)

Government of India

Ministry of Personnel, Public Grievances & Pension

Department of Personnel & Training

North Block, New Delhi,

Dated the 28th April, 2014

OFFICE MEMORANDUM

The Department of Personnel & Training had in its O.M. No.22011/5/86-Estt (D) dated 10.04.1989 issued consolidated instructions on Departmental Promotion Committee and matters related thereto. Para 6.2.3 of said O.M. provides that “before making the overall grading after considering the CRs for the relevant years, the DPC should take into account whether the officer has been awarded any major or minor penalty or whether any displeasure of any superior officer or authority has been conveyed to him as reflected in the ACRs.” These guidelines further provide that “the DPC should not be guided merely by the overall grading, if any, that may be recorded in the ACRs (now APARs) but should also make its own assessment on the basis of entries in the CRs (now APARs) because it has been noticed that sometimes the overall grading in a ACR (now APAR) may be inconsistent with the grades under various parameters or attributes”.

2. It further provides that an officer whose increments have been withheld or who has been reduced to a lower stage in the time scale, cannot be considered on that account to be ineligible for promotion to the higher grade as the specific penalty of withholding promotion has not been imposed on him/her. The suitability of the officer for promotion should be assessed by the DPC as and when occasions arise for such assessment. In assessing the suitability, the DPC will take into account the circumstances leading to the imposition of the penalty and decide whether in the light of the general service record of the officer and the fact of the imposition of the penalty he should be considered suitable for promotion. However, even where the DPC considers that despite the penalty, the officer is suitable for promotion, the officer should not be actually promoted during the currency of the penalty.

3. Further this Department’s O.M. No. No.22034/5/2004-Estt (D) dated 15.12.2004 provides that a Government servant, on whom a minor penalty of withholding of increment etc. has been imposed, should be considered for promotion by the Departmental Promotion Committee which meets after the imposition of the said penalty and after due consideration of full facts leading to imposition of the penalty, if he is still considered fit for promotion, the promotion may be given effect after the expiry of the currency of the penalty.

4. The procedure and guidelines to be followed for promotion of Government servants against whom disciplinary/court proceedings are pending or whose conduct is under investigation has been laid down in this Department’s O.M. No.22011/4/91-Estt(A) dated 14.9.92 and O.M. No.22034/4/2012-Estt (D) dated 02.11.2012 and 23.1.2014.

5. The role of Departmental Promotion Committee (DPC) in assessment of the officers being considered for promotion, including the officer(s) against whom a chargesheet has been issued or on whom a penalty has been imposed, has been examined by the Supreme Court in several judgments. The observations of Supreme Court in some of the important cases are summarized as under:

“the guidelines give a certain amount of play in the joints to the DPC by providing that it need not be guided by the overall grading recorded in the CRs, but may make its own assessment on the basis of the entries in the CRs. The DPC is required to make an overall assessment of the performance of each candidate separately, but by adopting the same standards, yardsticks and norms. It is only when the process of assessment is vitiated either on the ground of bias, malafide or arbitrariness, the selection calls for interference. Where the DPC has proceeded in a fair, impartial and reasonable manner, by applying the same yardstick and norms to all candidates and there is no arbitrariness in the process of assessment by the DPC, the court will not interfere”.

“An employee has no right to promotion. He has only right to be considered for promotion. The promotion to a post and more so, to a selection post, depends upon several circumstances. To qualify for promotion, the least that is expected of an employee is to have an unblemished record. That is the minimum expected to ensure a clean and efficient administration and to protect the public interest. An employee found guilty of misconduct cannot be placed on par with the other employees, and his case has to be treated differently……. In fact, while considering an employee for promotion his whole record has to be taken into consideration and if a promotion committee takes the penalties imposed upon the employee into consideration and denies him the promotion, such denial is not illegal and unjustified.”

“DPC enjoyed full discretion to devise its method and procedure for objective assessment of suitability and merit of the candidate being considered by it. Hence interference by High Court is not called for. ”

While delivering the above judgement, the Division Bench has observed that:

“…it is now more or less well settled that the evaluation made by an Expert Committee should not be easily interfered with by the Court which do not have the necessary expertise to undertake the exercise that is necessary for such purpose.”