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In this case of Pankaj Prakash Versus United India Insurance Co Ltd & Anr, The dispute in the present case arises from the appellant’s claim for promotion from Scale III to Scale IV in the services of the respondents. The year of promotion is 2014-2015. In this case relying on the two-judge Bench decision of this Court in Dev Dutt v Union of India2 and the subsequent decision of the three-judge Bench in Sukhdev Singh v Union of India3, the appellant contended that the failure to communicate the entries for 2010-11 and 2011-12 is contrary to the law laid down by this Court. Moreover, it has been submitted that on 14 May 2009 and 13 April 2010, the Union of India in the Ministry of Personnel, Public Grievances and Pensions (Department of Personnel and Training) had issued directions for implementation of the decision in Dev Dutt (supra).
Thereafter, on 19 October 2012, the Union of India in the Ministry of Finance (Department of Financial Services) had drawn the attention of public sector insurance companies to the earlier Office Memorandum dated 14 May 2009 seeking immediate compliance. In this background, it has been submitted that the High Court of Judicature at Allahabad, which was moved by the appellant in proceedings under Article 226, was in error in coming to the conclusion that absent an adverse entry or an entry below the benchmark, the failure to communicate did not result in an actionable grievance. The High Court dismissed the writ petition by its judgment dated 6 October 2016 as well as the review petition by its judgment dated 17 January 2017. The present proceedings were instituted assailing the judgments of the High Court. In the counter affidavit filed on behalf of the respondent, it has been stated that following a circular dated 18 March 2014, all public sector insurance companies have disclosed APARs since appraisal year 2013-14. It has been submitted that in consequence, there was no necessity to disclose the APARs to the appellant for the relevant years (2010-11 and 2011-12).
Supreme Court held “(i)Within a period of one month from the date of receipt of a certified copy of this order, the respondent shall communicate to the appellant the uncommunicated entries in the APARs for the years which were taken into account for the promotional exercise of 2014-15; (ii) Within a period of two months from the date of receipt of the above, it would be open to the appellant to submit his objections and representation to the respondent; (iii) The representation shall be considered within a period of three months from the date of receipt of the representation; (iv) Thereafter, based on the result of the decision, the competent authority shall take a decision on whether any modification in the decision for promotion from Scale III to Scale IV for 2014-15 in respect of the appellant is warranted; and (v) In order to ensure that this exercise is carried out fairly, we direct that the competent authority shall ensure that the representation that is submitted by the appellant is placed before an authority at a sufficiently senior level to obviate any bias or injustice.”
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