Right to promotion is not constitutional

Recently, an appeal was filed in the Supreme Court regarding the right to promotion, on which the Supreme Court has given a historic verdict. A three-judge bench headed by Chief Justice of India D.Y. Chandrachud gave a big verdict after hearing the appeal to give the right to promotion to all government employees. The apex court said that the right to promotion is not a constitutional right. This right is not mentioned in any part of the Constitution. The court further said that the executive (Parliament in the case of the Center and State Assembly in the case of states) has the right to make rules and laws regarding the promotion of employees.

The apex court said that there is no rule in the Constitution regarding the promotion of government employees. The bench headed by CJI Chandrachud said, “There is no constitutional right like the right to promotion for government employees in India. The Center and State Executive are fully responsible for implementing rules and laws according to the post or requirement.”

The Supreme Court clarified that the legislature and the executive deal with the rules and legal provisions for promoting the employee. The court also clarified that it would not review the adequacy of the policy for promotion selection. The legislature and the executive have the sole authority to decide which employee to promote based on the type of work and other employment-related rules. Such appeals can only be considered under Article 16 (equal opportunity for all in public offices) of the Indian Constitution to ensure that 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 judgment, the Supreme Court said that promotions of employees are done on the basis of experience as it is expected that an employee with more experience will be better equipped with the techniques of work. This system also helps in preventing the issue of nepotism at the workplace.