A government servant facing corruption charges cannot seek promotion as a matter of right just because his/her name had been included in the promotion panel prepared much before the framing of charges in departmental proceedings, the Madras High Court has ruled.

Second Division Bench of Justices S.M. Subramaniam and N. Senthilkumar made it clear that promotions must be given only to untainted officers and that mere inclusion of name in the panel of individuals eligible for promotion would not confer any right to get promoted.

“It is immaterial as to whether the disciplinary proceedings are initiated before or after preparation of the panel. The promotion panel is just a list of eligible officers. It is only procedural and cannot be construed as promotion. Thus, no right accrues. Right accrues only after issuance of an order of promotion,” the Bench wrote.

The verdict was passed while allowing a writ appeal filed by the Commercial Taxes and Registration department. The Bench set aside a single judge’s order to promote Deputy Inspector General of Registration V.A. Anand to the post of Additional Inspector General of Registration.

Authoring the verdict for the Division Bench, Justice Subramaniam said, a government employee need not be necessarily promoted just because no charges were pending on the day when his/her name was included in the promotion panel and corruption charges came to be framed only much later.

The Bench agreed with Additional Advocate General P.V. Balasubramaniam that the government was empowered to defer grant of promotion at any moment before the issuance of the promotion order and until the disposal of the departmental proceedings initiated for the charge of corruption.

He brought it to the notice of the court that pendency of charges framed against a government servant under Rule 17(b) (major penalties) of The Tamil Nadu Civil Services (Discipline and Appeal) Rules was a bar to be considered for promotion to a higher post.

“When the procedures contemplated under the Tamil Nadu Government Servants (Conditions of Service) Act, 2016 is that an employee facing charges under Rule 17(b) is not eligible for inclusion in the panel, it follows naturally that such persons, even after preparation of the panel and before actual promotion, are not entitled to promotion. The very purpose and object of the procedure contemplated is to ensure that tainted officials are not promoted to a higher post,” the Bench concluded.