LI Network
Published on: 4 August 2023 at 12:20 IST
The Supreme Court has recently dismissed a petition filed by a judicial officer who contested the Punjab & Haryana High Court’s decision to deny him promotion as an Additional District & Sessions Judge.
The High Court’s six-member Committee of Judges had refused his promotion, citing that his judgments were deemed “below average.” Dissatisfied with this decision, the officer initially challenged it in the High Court itself. However, when the High Court rejected his petition, he subsequently approached the Supreme Court.
The petitioner argued that a six-member Committee of Judges should have evaluated his judgments, but only a three-member Committee had done so, leading to the denial of his promotion.
Upon reviewing the case, the Supreme Court bench, comprising Justices Hrishikesh Roy and Pankaj Mithal, opined that if the suitability of the petitioner for promotion is based on the quality of his judgments, there is no basis for finding fault in the decision of the committee to deny his promotion.
“When the suitability of the petitioner for promotion is inter alia based on the quality of judgments, no fault can be found with the decision to decline promotion to the petitioner,” the bench observed while dismissing the special leave petition.