UNION OF INDIA Vs. A K NARULA

JUDGEMENT

(1.) Leave granted.

(2.) Respondent was appointed as Deputy Superintendent of Police in the Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF for short) on 1.12.1971. He was promoted as Assistant Commandant on 23.7.1983. Promotion from the post of Assistant Commandant to the next higher post of Second-in-Command is on the basis of selection.

(3.) The O.M. dated 10.3.1989 issued by the Ministry of Personnel, Public Grievances and Pension laid down the procedure of selection where the Recruitment Rules required promotions to be made by selection. It provided that where vacancies to be filled are more than four, the number of officers to be considered by the Departmental Promotion Committee ('DPC' for short) shall be three times the number of vacancies. It authorized the DPC to decide its own method and procedure for objective assessment of the suitability of the candidates. It excluded interviews, unless specifically provided for in the relevant recruitment Rules and directed that Confidential Reports (CRs) were to be the basic inputs for assessment. The O.M. required the DPC to follow the procedure laid down therein to ensure that the evaluation of the CRs was fair, just and non-discriminatory. A summary of the relevant portions of the procedure laid down in the OM is given below: