AP High Court Rejects Promotion Claim of Officer Facing Grave Corruption Case

No automatic right to promotion

The Andhra Pradesh High Court dismissed a Deputy Director of Mines and Geology’s petition seeking consideration for promotion to Joint Director. Although he ranked second in the seniority list, he faced a pending CBI prosecution and departmental charges concerning alleged illegal limestone excavation and a stated loss exceeding ₹124 crore.

Justice Nyapathy Vijay held that seniority and probation do not, by themselves, confer a right to promotion. The applicable government instructions restrict even ad hoc promotion where allegations involve moral turpitude, misappropriation, embezzlement or grave dereliction of duty.

Departmental integrity considered

The Court reasoned that an officer facing serious bribery or corruption allegations cannot be treated on par with employees having clean records. Promotion in such circumstances may demoralise honest staff and normalise wrongdoing. It also rejected delay in the criminal case as sufficient ground for relief, while making clear that questions of innocence must be decided in the pending prosecution.