Bharat Sanchar Nigam Limited And Another Vs G.N. Mani Ravinder And Others Etc. (Supreme Court of India)
Mere officiation on a higher post creates no vested right to promotion under old Rules; applicable Rules are those in force on date of consideration: Supreme Court
The Supreme Court has held that employees merely officiating on a higher post do not acquire a vested right to regular promotion under the recruitment rules or administrative instructions that existed when the vacancies arose.
The right of an eligible employee is only to be considered for promotion under the Rules in force on the date of such consideration. There is no universal principle that vacancies must necessarily be filled according to the Rules prevailing on the date on which they arose.
The Court consequently set aside the High Court’s directions requiring BSNL to consider the employees for promotion as Rajbhasha Adhikari without insisting upon the written test prescribed under the 2005 Recruitment Rules.
Administrative instructions providing automatic promotion
The Department of Telecommunications created a separate official-language wing for promoting the use of Hindi. Posts of Hindi Translator Grade I, II and III were created, with the post of Hindi Officer constituting the next promotional level.
