LexDHARMENDRA KUMAR SINGH & ORS. versus THE HON’BLE HIGH COURT OF JHARKHAND & ORS.
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[2025] 1 S.C.R. 490 : 2025 INSC 72 Dharmendra Kumar Singh & Ors. v. The Hon’ble High Court of Jharkhand & Ors. (Civil Appeal No. 299 of 2025) 15 January 2025 [B.V. Nagarathna and Satish Chandra Sharma,* JJ.] Issue for Consideration Issue arose as regards the promotion of the Civil Judges (Senior Division) to Jharkhand Superior Judicial Service. Headnotes† Judiciary – Superior judiciary – Jharkhand Superior Judicial Service – Promotion/appointment – Notification for appointment in the Jharkhand Superior Judicial Service – Quota for promotion based upon merit-cum-seniority and passing of suitability test is 65% – Appellants-promotee in the cadre of Civil Judge (Senior Division) participated in the selection process, however not selected – Appellants obtained more than the cut off marks for determining suitability of the candidate, however, persons junior to them, who had secured more marks promoted by preparing merit list – Writ petition by appellants – Dismissed by the High Court on the ground that appellants scored lower than the last selected candidate – Correctness: Held: Suitability of each candidate has to be tested on his own merit and a comparative assessment cannot be made and the promotion cannot be solely based upon merit list – Appellants successfully qualified the suitability test, they could not have been deprived of their legitimate right of promotion only on account of lower placement in the merit list – Appellants have been subsequently promoted – Appellants entitled for notional promotion from the same date the other officers from the select list prepared by the High Court have been appointed to the post of District Judge in terms of the Notification – Orders passed by * Author [2025] 1 S.C.R. 491 Dharmendra Kumar Singh & Ors. v. The Hon’ble High Court of Jharkhand & Ors. the High Court set aside – Jharkhand Superior Judicial Services (Recruitment, Appointment and Condition of Service) Rules, 2001 – rr.4, 5. [Paras 4-6] Case Law Cited Ravikumar Dhansukhlal Maheta and Another v. High Court of Gujarat and Others [2024] 5 SCR 1074 : 2024 SCC Online SC 972 – relied on. List of Acts Jharkhand Superior Judicial Services (Recruitment, Appointment and Condition of Service) Rule, 2001. List of Keywords Promotion; Civil Judges (Senior Division); Jharkhand Superior Judicial Service; Superior judiciary; Notification for appointment; Quota for promotion based upon merit-cum-seniority; Suitability test; Cadre of Civil Judge (Senior Division); Selection process; Last selected candidate; Comparative assessment; Legitimate right of promotion; Lower placement in merit list; Notional promotion; Post of District Judge; Merit list; Select list; Limited Competitive Examination; Suitability of candidate for promotion; Seniority. Case Arising From CIVIL APPELLATE JURISDICTION: Civil Appeal No. 299 of 2025 From the Judgment and Order dated 29.06.2022 of the High Court of Jharkhand at Ranchi in WPS No. 3771 of 2019 Appearances for Parties Vijay Hansaria, Sr. Adv., Akhilesh Kumar Pandey, Mrs. Shalini Chandra, Abhishek Kumar Pandey, Ms. Kavya Jhawar, Ms. Nandini Rai, Mrs. Nandita Mishra, Advs. for the Appellants. Ajit Kumar Sinha, Sr. Adv., Ashwarya Sinha, Saurabh Jain, Ms. Tulika Mukherjee, Beenu Sharma, Venkat Narayan, Advs. for the Respondents. 492 [2025] 1 S.C.R. Digital Supreme Court Reports Judgment / Order of the Supreme Court Order Satish Chandra Sharma, J. 1. The present appeal is arising out of judgment dated 29.06.2022 passed by High Court of Jharkhand in Writ Petition (C) No. 3771/2019, by which the High Court has declined to entertain the relief for quashment of notification dated 30.05.2019 whereby the private respondents have been appointed to the post of District Judge in the Jharkhand Superior Judicial Service on promotion in the State of Jharkhand. 2. The facts of the case reveal that appellant No. 1 was initially appointed as Munsif [Civil Judge (Junior Division)] and was promoted on 23.07.2014 in the cadre of Civil Judge (Senior Division) and appellant Nos. 2 and 3 who were initially appointed as Civil Judge (Junior Division) were promoted to the cadre of Civil Judge (Senior Division) on 20.04.2016. In the combined gradation list of judicial officers in the State of Jharkhand, the names of appellant Nos. 1, 2 and 3 find place at serial Nos. 141, 195 and 204 respectively. The High Court of Jharkhand issued a notification dated 19.05.2018 for
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