Promoted employees are entitled to seniority from the date of junior’s promotion upon passing requisite departmental examinations.

The petitioners were appointed as Forest Guards in 2011 and confirmed in 2016.

Under the Guard Class-III (Departmental Examination) Rules, 2009, passing a departmental exam is required for promotion to Forester.

In 2019, the petitioners failed the exam while their juniors passed and were subsequently promoted on 06.03.2021.

The petitioners later cleared the examination on 05.10.2021 and were promoted in 2023 and 2025.

The petitioners approached the High Court seeking a "deemed date" of promotion (06.03.2021) to maintain seniority over their juniors, citing the statutory rules.

1. Whether the petitioners are entitled to a deemed date of promotion and seniority over their juniors who passed the departmental examination earlier, as per the 2009 Rules.

The court primarily applied Rule 8 of the Guard, Class-III (in the subordinate service of the Forest Department (Departmental Examination) Rules, 2009.

This rule stipulates that a Guard who passes the departmental examination within the specified period and chances shall, upon promotion to Forester, be assigned seniority over a person who, despite being junior in the Guard cadre, was promoted earlier solely because they passed the examination sooner.

While deemed date promotions are not ordinary, they must be granted when mandated by statutory rules framed under Article 309 of the Constitution of India.

The court reasoned that Rule 8 of the 2009 Rules creates a specific statutory right for senior employees to reclaim their seniority position even if they pass the requisite qualifying exam later than their juniors, provided it is within the allowed chances.

Since their juniors were promoted on 06.03.2021, the court held that the respondent authority's failure to backdate the petitioners' promotions to that same date directly ignored the binding nature of Rule 8.

The court emphasized that the state cannot ignore its own statutory rules which allow for such deemed date seniority.

The court directed the respondent authority to issue fresh promotion orders for the petitioners to reflect this deemed date on or before 31.05.2026.

Rule was made absolute to that extent, and the connected civil application was disposed of.