An exonerated employee’s promotion must be considered retrospectively from the date their juniors were promoted.

The petitioner, a First Division Assistant, sought consideration for promotion to the cadre of Office Managers with retrospective effect from 1 August 2023.

Her name appeared at Sl. No. 284 in the seniority list, but she was not considered for promotion because a departmental inquiry was pending against her.

The petitioner produced the competent authority’s order dated 1 July 2026 and a memo dated 18 September 2026 recording her exoneration; the State did not dispute this.

She further stated that junior employees had been promoted on 1 August 2023.

Whether the petitioner’s promotion could be withheld solely because a departmental inquiry was pending, without following the sealed-cover procedure.

Whether, following her exoneration, the petitioner was entitled to consideration for promotion from the date her juniors were promoted, with consequential seniority and benefits.

The Court relied on the right under Article 16 of the Constitution to be considered for promotion, where the employee is eligible and within the zone of consideration.

It applied the sealed-cover principle: where disciplinary proceedings are pending at the relevant time, the Departmental Promotion Committee’s assessment may be kept in abeyance, but an employee’s exoneration requires the favourable assessment to be given effect to.

Relying on Delhi Jal Board v. Mahinder Singh, (2000) 7 SCC 210, the Court stated that exoneration relates back to the date charges were framed and that a subsequent inquiry does not, by itself, defeat the benefit of a favourable earlier DPC assessment.

The petitioner’s promotion had been withheld because of the pending inquiry, and the Court noted that there was no indication that the authorities had followed the sealed-cover procedure.

Since the inquiry ended in her exoneration and her juniors had been promoted on 1 August 2023, the Court held that her case should be considered from that date, with her seniority and placement in the higher cadre restored accordingly.

The respondents were directed to consider the petitioner’s promotion to the higher post from 1 August 2023, the date her juniors were promoted, restoring her original seniority and correct placement in the higher cadre and granting consequential benefits to which she was entitled in law.

The action was to be completed within four weeks, and the matter was listed for compliance on 12 November 2026.