SWAPAN ADHIKARI Vs. UNION OF INDIA

JUDGEMENT

(1.) THIS writ petition has been preferred by the petitioner against the judgment and order dated 12th March, 2004 passed by learned Central Administrative Tribunal, Patna, Bench at Ranchi in original application No. 351/2003, whereby and whereunder the Tribunal dismissed the application.

(2.) THE brief fact of the case is that the petitioner was appointed as Deputy Directors of Mines and Safety under the Ministry of Labour, Government of India and was posted at Dhanbad. Thereafter, he was transferred from Dhanbad to Hyderabad. Subsequently, he was promoted to the next higher post of Directors of Mines and Safety on ad hoc basis and was posted at Dhanbad. In the meantime, an FIR was lodged by Central Bureau of Investigation against him at Bhuvaneshwar in which charge sheet was submitted on 20th November, 1994. The trial of the criminal proceeding started and more than thirty -six witnesses were examined. When the question of regular promotion was taken up, the Departmental Promotion Committee considered the cases of all the eligible regular Deputy Directors wherein, the name of the petitioner stood at serial No. 6 of the Seniority list. As the criminal case was pending against the petitioner, the Departmental Promotion Committee kept his case pending for consideration under sealed cover. The rest eligible persons, who were found fit, including those who were at serial Nos. 2 to 5 and serial Nos. 7 to 10 were promoted to the next higher posts of Directors, Mines and Safety vide orders dated 7th April, 1996.

(3.) IT appears that during the argument before the learned Tribunal, learned counsel appearing for the petitioner also challenged the ad hoc promotion. The learned Tribunal held that the petitioner having accepted promotion on ad hoc basis is stopped to challenge the same and cannot claim that the earlier promotion was regular in nature.