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Showing contexts for: below benchmark grading in Abhijit Bhowmick vs M/O Power on 10 April, 2026Matching Fragments
11. In case the appellant is found suitable for promotion, this order should not be taken as permitting the authorities, to interfere with the promotions already made. Suffice it to state, that to accommodate the appellant, it shall be open to the authorities to create a notional post, for giving effect to the instant order."
3. The sum and substance of these judgments are that in the event of below benchmark grading or/and adverse remarks found in the APAR for the relevant period which is normally taken into consideration by the DPC for promotion, if such adverse remarks or below benchmark grading are subsequently upgraded/expunged by the competent authority, its effect on the career prospects of the applicant will be retrospective and not prospective i.e., as if such ABHAY ABHAY CHAUDHARY CHAUDHARY 2026.04.17 09:57:01+05'30' adverse remarks had not there been at all in the APAR ab initio from the beginning.
4. The grievance of the applicant is that although he became eligible for promotion to the post of Deputy Director (Finance) on 04.01.2010 and the posts were available and sanctioned as evident from Annexure A-3 (page 61-62 of the OA) however, the respondents have taken a stand that the posts are "deemed abolished " and not available. Therefore, the respondents have accommodated the applicant in the newly created post of Deputy Director (Admn.) only on 22.10.2014. In essence, the applicant contends that once the adverse remarks and below-benchmark gradings in the APAR were expunged by the competent authority then the applicant became eligible for promotion to the post of Deputy Director (Finance) w.e.f. 01.04.2010 in light of the judgments cited hereinabove in paragraph 2. However, due to the respondents' failure to convene the DPC in a timely manner, he was unjustly denied promotion with retrospective effect.
7. We have considered the submissions of the learned counsels for the respective parties and gone through the proceedings with the help of them.
ABHAY ABHAY CHAUDHARY CHAUDHARY 2026.04.17 09:57:01+05'30'
8. The short issue to be adjudicated is whether the applicant has got the right for retrospective promotion due to the fact that for no fault of his, he is being deprived of promotion to the post of Deputy Directory (Finance) in question on the ground that the post of Deputy Director is deemed to be abolished as it was lying vacant for one year from its initial creation on 28.01.2009 and thereby as per the norms of Finance Ministry was deemed abolished on 28.01.2010. The applicant contended that the post in question was not found abolished on the date he became eligible for the promotion on the said post on 04.01.2010, for which he has shown us Annexure A-3 at page 61 of the OA. However, we find that although judgments of the Constitutional Courts relied upon by the applicant state that in the event of expungement of adverse remarks or below benchmark grading, benefits of such upgradation/expungement by the competent authority will accrue to the applicant with retrospective effect and not prospective effect, but the peculiar situation which is prevailing in the present case is that by the time the applicant became eligible for promotion on account of such expungment of adverse remarks and/or upgradation of below benchmark grading, the post of Deputy Director (Finance) was not there.