Promotion through non-sequential feeder cadres and differing professional qualifications is a valid legislative policy.

The Karnataka Municipal Corporations (Common Recruitment of Officers and Employees) Rules, 2011 ('2011 Rules') govern recruitment for Municipal Corporations. Under these rules, the post of Assistant Executive Engineer (AEE) is filled via direct recruitment and promotion.

The 2011 Rules allow 25% of AEE (Civil) and 40% of AEE (Electrical) posts to be filled by promotion from the cadre of Junior Engineer (JE), while Assistant Engineers (AE) are also eligible for promotion.

Assistant Engineers (degree-holders) require three years of service, whereas Junior Engineers (diploma-holders) require five years to be eligible for AEE promotion.

The writ petitioners (AEs) challenged the 2011 Rules as discriminatory, arguing that promoting JEs—a lower cadre—to the Group-A post of AEE bypassed the intermediate AE cadre.

A Learned Single Judge struck down the relevant provisions as unconstitutional, holding that promotion must flow from an immediate feeder cadre.

The State and affected JEs appealed this decision.

The court applied Rule 2(t) of the 2011 Rules, defining promotion as advancement to a higher post or grade.

It relied on Tarsem Singh v. State of Punjab, defining promotion as advancement in rank or grade.

The court heavily cited State of Jammu and Kashmir v. Triloki Nath Khosa, which established that classification based on educational qualifications for promotion is valid and that the burden of proving arbitrariness lies on the challenger.

It further applied P.U. Joshi v. Accountant General, Ahmedabad and Union of India v. Pushpa Rani, which hold that structuring cadres, prescribing qualifications, and determining sources of recruitment fall within the exclusive policy domain of the State and are generally beyond judicial review unless patently arbitrary.

The Division Bench found that the learned Single Judge misinterpreted Rule 2(t); neither the rule nor service jurisprudence mandates that promotion must only proceed to the "immediate next" higher post.

The court noted that the 2011 Rules did not equate "unequals" because they maintained distinct quotas for AEs and JEs and prescribed a longer qualifying service (five years vs. three years) for the lesser-qualified JEs.

The Bench distinguished the precedent in B.S. Mahabaleshwara, noting that the 2011 Rules did not amalgamate unequal cadres into a single list but rather maintained separate promotional streams.

Referring to T.R. Kothandaraman and C. Vijaya Baskar, the court reasoned that the State is best positioned to decide the technical requirements and social justice needs of its administration.

Since the State exercised its legislative power under Article 309 to create these avenues, and there was no demonstrable illegality, judicial interference was deemed an overreach.

The court allowed the Writ Appeals and set aside the judgments of the learned Single Judge dated 10.07.2023 and 17.07.2023, dismissed the writ petitions challenging the 2011 Rules, and permitted the State to carry out promotions in accordance with the 2011 Rules.