Employee Relinquishing Promotion is Ineligible for Inclusion in Panels with Crucial Dates During Relinquishment Period

The appellant, a Secondary Grade Teacher, was eligible for promotion to Primary School Headmaster. Her name was included in the 2018 promotion panel (crucial date 01.01.2018)

On 20.06.2018, she submitted a letter temporarily relinquishing her right to promotion for three years

This relinquishment period expired on 16.06.2021

For the subsequent promotion panel of 2021, the crucial date for eligibility was 01.01.2021. Because the appellant was still under the relinquishment period on the crucial date (01.01.2021), the respondents excluded her from the 2021 panel

The appellant challenged this exclusion via a Writ Petition, which was dismissed on 25.03.2025. She then filed this intra-Court appeal.

Whether the appellant is eligible for promotion to the post of Primary School Headmaster on par with her juniors based on the 2021 panel, despite her temporary relinquishment

The court applied the principle that while inclusion in a promotion panel is not an absolute right, consideration for promotion is a fundamental right of an employee.

This right is subject to prevailing promotion rules and the employee's own exercise of the right to relinquish promotion. Once an employee chooses to relinquish promotion for a specific term, they forfeit the right to be considered for any panel where the "crucial date" for preparation falls within that relinquished period

The Court noted that the appellant voluntarily relinquished her promotion for three years starting June 2018, being fully aware of the procedural implications regarding "crucial dates" for panel preparation.

The court reasoned that since the crucial date for the 2021 promotion panel was 01.01.2021, and the appellant's relinquishment period did not expire until 16.06.2021, she was legally ineligible to be included in that specific panel. The respondents' decision to exclude her was not an administrative error but a direct consequence of the appellant's own relinquishment letter.

The Court concurred with the Single Judge's findings that the expiry of the relinquishment period must occur before the crucial date of the panel for the employee to regain eligibility.

The Writ Appeal was dismissed, confirming that the appellant became eligible for promotion only after 16.06.2021 and could not claim retrospective inclusion in a panel whose eligibility was determined on 01.01.2021. All connected miscellaneous petitions were closed with no costs.