Direction to administrative authorities to decide pending representations for promotion through reasoned and speaking orders.

The applicant, a TGT (Social Science) at Atal Aadarsh Vidyalya under the New Delhi Municipal Council (NDMC), sought promotion to the post of PGT (Economics) under the ST Departmental Quota effective from 10.09.2025

She requested a relaxation of the necessary experience requirements, citing departmental precedents where TGTs (Computer Science) were promoted to PGT (Computer Science) with only two years of regular service

The applicant relied on an NDMC Council decision dated 18.06.2008 and a DoPT Office Memorandum dated 20.09.2022

Despite submitting representations on 29.09.2025 and 06.10.2025 to the competent authority, the respondents failed to pass any orders

Consequently, the applicant filed the present Original Application (OA) under Section 19 of the Administrative Tribunals Act, 1985

1. Whether the Tribunal should direct the respondents to consider and decide the applicant's pending representations regarding promotion and relaxation of experience in a time-bound manner?

The court considered the provisions of Section 19 of the Administrative Tribunals Act, 1985, which governs the filing of applications for the redressal of grievances

It referred to the NDMC Council decision (18.06.2008) and the Ministry of Personnel, Public Grievances and Pensions (DoPT) Office Memorandum dated 20.09.2022 regarding promotion policies

The Tribunal applied the administrative principle that competent authorities are duty-bound to dispose of employee representations through reasoned and speaking orders within a reasonable timeframe

The Tribunal noted that the applicant’s grievance stemmed from the respondents' inaction regarding her request for promotion and experience relaxation based on existing policies and precedents

During the hearing, the applicant’s counsel limited the prayer to seeking a direction for the disposal of pending representations

The Tribunal observed that the representations dated 29.09.2025 and 06.10.2025 had remained undecided for a significant period

Without delving into the merits of the applicant's eligibility for promotion or the validity of the requested relaxation, the Tribunal determined that the interest of justice required the administrative authority to first exercise its discretion and apply the relevant rules to the facts of the applicant's case

It directed the competent authority among the respondents to consider and decide the applicant’s pending representations in accordance with applicable rules and instructions

The respondents must pass a reasoned and speaking order within eight weeks from the date of receipt of the order

No orders were made as to costs