The Uttarakhand High Court has overturned the denial of Assured Career Progression (ACP) benefits to five non-permanent employees of the Training and Employment Directorate. The Court instructed that the benefits be granted within eight weeks from the date of entitlement.
The five petitioners—Bhagwan Chandra Pant, Vijay Kumar Joshi, Prakash Chandra Joshi, Gajendra Singh Dasila and Satish Kumar Upreti—were originally hired as technicians at Teletronics and Kumaon Television, subsidiaries of Kumaon Mandal Vikas Nigam, a state government enterprise. Both companies ceased operations in 1996, and the petitioners were later reassigned to the Training and Employment Directorate as instructors.
After fulfilling a regular and satisfactory 10-year service period, the petitioners applied for ACP benefits, which were initially denied. The department’s counsel argued that the employees had not completed CTI training, which, according to Service Rules, 2003, was necessary for permanent status and eligibility for ACP benefits.
The petitioners’ counsel countered that the entitlement to the first ACP benefit required only 10 years of regular and satisfactory service, not permanent status or CTI training. The Court agreed, noting that government orders on ACP do not stipulate permanent status as a prerequisite for the benefit.
In its ruling, the High Court found the department’s refusal to grant ACP benefits to be unfounded and ordered that the benefits be provided to the petitioners from the date of their entitlement.
