Jharkhand High Court: Financial Upgradation Under ACP/ MACP Scheme Can Be Claimed After Completion Of Requisite Regular Service, No Need For Higher Qualification
The Jharkhand High Court was considering a Writ-Petition seeking direction to the Respondents to grant 1st & 2nd ACP with effect from August 23, 2009 and 3rd MACP with effect from April 15, 2010 as granted to him earlier through Memo issued in 2010.
The Jharkhand High Court has held that financial upgradation under the ACP/ MACP Scheme can be claimed after completion of requisite regular service ignoring the higher qualification prescribed for the next higher post.
The Court was considering a Writ-Petition seeking direction to the Respondents to grant 1st & 2nd ACP with effect from August 23, 2009 and 3rd MACP with effect from April 15, 2010 as granted to him earlier through Memo issued in 2010.
The single bench of Justice Ananda Sen observed, "As has been observed by the Hon’ble Supreme Court in the above case, “appellants are entitled to financial upgradation under the ACP Scheme on completion of requisite regular service ignoring the higher qualification prescribed for the next higher post as grant of such benefit is not actually a promotion but only financial upgradation and if the higher qualification is insisted it would frustrate the purpose of the entire scheme”, in the case in hand also, the petitioner is entitled to 1st & 2nd ACP and 3rd MACP with effect from the respective dates on which he completed the respective qualifying years of service."
The Petitioner was represented by Advocate Sahadeo Choudhary while the Respondent was represented by Senior Counsel Indranil Bhaduri.
Facts of the Case
The Petitioner was appointed on April 15, 2025 in Road Construction Department of Bihar and had completed 30 years of service. He passed the accounts examination on August 23, 2009 and was granted the 1st and 2 nd ACP (Assured Career Progression) benefits with effect from August 23, 2009 and the 3rd MACP (Modified Assured Career Progression) with effect from April 15, 2010, which was approved by the Commissioner. Later on, the benefits of the 2nd ACP and 3rd MACP granted to the Petitioner were cancelled without any Notice to the Petitioner.
It was the case of the Respondents that since the petitioner had passed the Departmental Examination in 2009, he is entitled for the benefits of ACP/MACP from August 2009 and not from 1999.
Reasoning By Court
The Court identified that the issue is that the Petitioner was granted ACP and MACP from the date he had passed the Departmental Examination, while his claim is that he is entitled to get the said benefit from much anterior date, i.e., the date when he had completed his qualifying service.
It referred to Supreme Court's decision in Amresh Kumar Singh & Others versus State of Bihar & Others, 2023 in which similar question was considered was as to whether the qualification of graduation prescribed for promotion to the next higher post of Accounts Officer from that of Accounts Clerk is necessary even for the purpose of extending the benefit of ACP.
It so clarified that the financial upgradation under the ACP/ MACP Scheme can be claimed after completion of requisite regular service ignoring the higher qualification prescribed for the next higher post.
Cause Title: Rabindra Prasad vs. The State of Jharkhand (2025:JHHC:10874)
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