Employees who do not participate cannot challenge a selection process based solely on feared harm to promotion rights.

The applicants, Loco Pilots Goods at Itarsi, challenged a notification dated 27 January 2026 inviting selection for the post of Chief Loco Inspector, Bhopal Division, West Central Railway.

They sought interim relief restraining the respondents from conducting the selection pending the Original Application.

The respondents opposed interim relief and contended that the application was not maintainable because the applicants had not participated in the selection and relied only on a perceived future impact on their promotional rights.

The Tribunal dismissed the application without examining its merits.

Whether the applicants, who had not participated in the selection, could maintain an application challenging the selection notification on the basis of an anticipated effect on their promotional rights.

Whether interim relief should be granted to stop the selection pending the Original Application.

The Tribunal referred to Section 19(1) of the Administrative Tribunals Act, 1985, which permits a person aggrieved by an order concerning a matter within the Tribunal’s jurisdiction to apply for redress of grievances.

It concluded that the applicants did not qualify as “persons aggrieved,” which it attributed to Section 21 of the Act.

The order cites no precedents.

The Tribunal reasoned that the applicants had not participated in the selection process and were challenging it based on the presumption that completion of the process would affect their promotional rights.

It held that, on this basis, they did not fall within the category of persons aggrieved entitled to seek redress under Section 19, and therefore the Original Application was not maintainable.

Having reached that conclusion, it did not address the merits of the challenge or grant the requested interim relief.

All pending miscellaneous applications were also disposed of.