As per the Jammu & Kashmir and Ladakh High Court’s ruling, a government employee facing criminal charges should not be considered for promotion while proceedings are still pending. In fact, Justice Vinod Chatterji Koul went on to say that the minimum requirement for any employee to be considered for promotion is a clean work record. Only then can the administration be clean, overall and be capable of protecting the interests of the public.
As per a report by LiveLaw, the petition was filed by Naba Kumar Giri, a 54-year-old assistant sub-inspector employed at the Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF), who was denied promotion and associated monetary benefits because of an ongoing criminal case against him. He had joined as constable in 1990 and went on to be trained for the sub inspector role. However, he was promoted as an assistant sub inspector or ASI in 2010 in the absence of vacancies. Giri’s contention was that he should have been promoted to sub inspector post in 2018, but his name was not included in the list of those being considered. He maintained that since 2013, he had been unjustly deprived of monetary benefits under the Modified Assured Career Progression (MACP) Scheme simply because of the ongoing criminal proceedings.
The Court, however, observed that considering the serious allegations of corruption against Giri and the ongoing disciplinary action against him, he cannot be thought eligible for a promotion. It would be unfair for the other employees too. An employee facing criminal charges cannot be treated at par with them. Also, Giri had failed to get vigilance clearance without which such promotions cannot take place. And such clearance is held back for employees facing disciplinary action, or suspension or criminal proceedings.
The Court issued a clarification that if and when Giri is acquitted and absolved of all charges, he would become eligible for notional benefits linked to the promotion, even if he happens to have retired from service by that time.
