Manoj Kumar vs State Of H.P. & Ors

Jyotsna Rewal Dua, J

The petitioner has filed the present petition for the grant of following substantive relief:-

“(i) That the respondents may be ordered to frame R& P rules Regulations for the post of Assistants Engineer (Electrical) and the case of the petitioner for promotion to the said grade may be process from the due date with all the benefits incidental thereof.”

Following order was passed in this matter on 11. 05.2023: -

“Learned Additional Advocate General, on instructions, has submitted that though the proposed Recruitment & Promotion Rules for the post of Assistant Engineer (Electrical), to the Government of Himachal Pradesh were framed and also approved by the Cabinet, but the same stand now denotified on the basis of opinion of the Law Department in terms of certain queries which stood raised.

Having gone through the instructions, which have been imparted to the learned Additional Advocate General by Deputy Secretary, Jal Shakti Vibhag, to the Government of Himachal Pradesh, all that this Court can observe is that the instructions are nothing, but a sham explanation to justify the inability on the part of the State to frame Recruitment & Promotion Rules for the post of Assistant Engineer (Electrical), framing of which is being espoused by the State Authorities to be an arduous task. There do exist Recruitment & Promotion Rules for the post of Assistant Engineer (Civil) etc. in the Department and all that the Department has to do is to substitute the word ‘Civil’ with the word ‘Electrical’ and Recruitment & Promotion Rules would be available even for the post of Assistant Engineer (Electrical) with minor alterations. However, it appears that there is no intent on the part of the State to do the needful, otherwise such an innocuous task would not have taken more than a decade.

The Court is pained on account of this callous attitude of the State, for the reason that inaction on the part of the State is adversely affecting the service career of the present petitioner. This Court is not oblivious to the fact that no one has a fundamental right for promotion, but then in terms of the law laid down by Hon’ble Supreme Court of India, right of consideration for promotion is a fundamental right an until and unless the State Government cogently comes with an express holding out that it does not intends to have any post of Assistant Engineer (Electrical the framing of Recruitment & Promotion Rules cannot be kept on hook for such a long time.

At this stage, learned Additional Advocate General submits that before any further observation is made by the Court, hearing of the petition be deferred by about a week, so that the sentiments of the Court can be brought to the notice of the concerned officer.

As prayed for, list on 22.05.2023.”

In compliance to the aforesaid order, learned Additional Advocate General has placed on record a copy of instruction memo dated 28.06.2023, issued from the office of Jal Shakti Vibhag, Government of Himachal Pradesh, intimating that the Recruitment & Promotion Rules for the post of Assistant Engineer (Electrical) have now been notified on 23.06.2023 and the same have also been uploaded and published in the e-Gazette of the State of Himachal Pradesh. Alongwith the instruction memo, a notification dated 26.03.2023 and Recruitment & Promotion Rules notified for the post of Assistant Engineer (Electrical) (Group A) in the Jal Shakti Vibhag, Himachal Pradesh, have also been appended.

As relief prayed for by the petitioner has been granted to him, the present petition has worked itself out and to stand disposed of accordingly.

The pending miscellaneous application(s), if any, also stand disposed of.