Settled Seniority Cannot Be Unsettled After Lapse Of Several Years: Madras High Court Dismisses Inspector's Plea For Retrospective Promotion

Finding the petition to be devoid of any merits, a bench of Justice SM Subramaniam observed as follows:

"The employees, who have slept over their rights, cannot wake up one fine morning and knock the doors of the Court for the purpose of redressal of their grievances, which all are otherwise lapsed on account of efflux of time"

In the present case, the petitioner was appointed as Grade-II Police Constable on 23.12.1985 and promoted as Grade-I Police Constable on 01.11.1989. He was thereafter made Head Constable on 08.12.1989. The petitioner also went on to be promoted as Sub Inspector on 01.04.2003 and later as Inspector of Police on 22.07.2011. He claimed that the date of his promotion as Head Constable was erroneous. He thus sought a retrospective promotion as Head Constable from the date of his original order of promotion i.e., 18.11.1989, and to declare that his probation in the post of Head Constable is completed on 17.11.1991, so as to enable him to receive all consequential benefits, on notional basis.

The court observed that considering such a petition would affect the promotion of many persons who would have been promoted as Head Constable after the year 1989. The court held that the petitioner had not pursued his promotion vigilantly and under such circumstances, his claim does not deserve any consideration on merit.

Case Title: A Shanmugam v. The Deputy Inspector General of Police and others

Case No: W.P No. 5885 of 2014

Citation: 2022 LiveLaw (Mad) 248

Counsel for Petitioner: Mr. I. Kabilan for Mr. M. Ravi

Counsel for Respondent: Ms. S Anitha, Special Government Pleader