Right to promotion not constitutional: Supreme Court of India

The Supreme Court clarified that the legislative and the executive deals with the rules and legal provisions for granting promotion to the employee.

An appeal was lodged regarding the right to promotion in the Supreme Court, recently, of which the Supreme Court of India has issued a landmark verdict. A three-judge bench, led by Chief Justice of India D.Y. Chandrachud pronounced a major verdict after hearing the appeal for granting the right to promotion for all government employees.

The top court stated that the right to promotion is not a constitutional right. This right is not mentioned in part of the constitution. The court further stated that the executive (the Parliament in the case of the Centre and the State Assembly in the case of states) has the right to introduce rules and regulations regarding the promotion of employees.

The top court said that there is no ruling mentioned in the constitution regarding the promotion of government employees. The bench led by CJI Chandrachud mentioned, “In India, there is no constitutional right call right to promotion for government employees. The central and state executives are solely responsible for enforcing rules and regulations by the post or requirement.”

The Supreme Court clarified that the legislative and the executive deals with the rules and legal provisions for granting promotion to the employee. The court also made it clear that it will not review the adequacy of the policy for promotion selection.

The legislative and the executive have the sole right to decide which employee to grant promotion depending on the type of work and other employment-related regulations. Such appeals can only be considered under Article 16 of the Indian Constitution (equality opportunities for all in government offices) to ensure every employee is treated equally.

The bench led by CJI Chandrachud also talked about the concept of seniority-cum-merit and merit-cum-seniority. In its verdict, the Supreme Court stated that the promotion of employees is done based on experience because it is expected that an employee with more experience is better equipped with the techniques of the work. This system also helps in curbing the issue of nepotism in the workplace.