Delhi HC Orders Authorities to Give Retrospective Seniority to CRPF Personnel Due to Uncontrollable Circumstances.
The Delhi High Court instructed authorities to give CRPF personnel seniority retroactively. The court noted that the authorities admitted he could not achieve ranks with his peers due to factors beyond his control. This was part of a Writ Petition that challenged Signals which excluded the Petitioner from being promoted to Second-in-Command (2-I/C) and later communications that deemed him ineligible for promotion due to insufficient qualifying service. The Petitioner also disputed a Signal about seniority changes and Orders that denied him Non-Functional Financial Upgradation (NFFU) in the Junior Administrative Grade. Justices Navin Chawla and Shalinder Kaur referenced the case of Ashok Kumar v. Union of India & Ors., 2009, stating, “…the court ruled that if the department fails to allow a person to complete two years in a duty battalion, the lack of this eligibility for promotion should not be held against that person.”
The Petitioner, who joined the CRPF as a Sub-Inspector in 1988, worked his way up to Inspector and then to Assistant Commandant. After some delays due to being assigned overseas, he was promoted to Deputy Commandant but faced issues with timely promotions to Second-in-Command and Non-Functional Financial Upgradation (NFFU) benefits. Despite making several requests, he was only promoted to 2-I/C, while others received NFFU sooner. The Petitioner contested the delays in his promotions, seniority, and NFFU benefits. The Court noted that the respondents acknowledged it was not the Petitioner’s fault that he could not be promoted to Assistant Commandant and later to Deputy Commandant with his peers. This was due to factors outside his control, specifically not being released by his borrowing department. Therefore, the Court ruled that the denial of retrospective seniority for the Petitioner in the 2-I/C rank, alongside his peers and above his immediate junior, was unjust. The Court then concluded the Writ Petition.
Cause Title: Jeewraj Singh Shekhawat v. Union of India (Neutral Citation: 2024:DHC:8045-DB) Appearance:
Appellant: Advocates Ankur Chhibber, Nikunj Arora, Anshuman Mehrotra and Pranjal Marwah
Respondent: CGSC Vineet Dhanda
