Can't Deny Promotion On Account of Lower Placement In Merit List: SC Grants Notional Promotion to 3 Officers To The Post Of District Judge In Jharkhand
The Appeal before the Apex Court arose out of a Jharkhand High Court judgment refusing to quash a Notification appointing the private respondents to the post of District Judge in the Jharkhand Superior Judicial Service.

The Supreme Court granted notional promotion to 3 Officers to the post of District Judge in the Jharkhand Superior Judicial Service and ruled that once the 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.
The Appeal before the Apex Court arose out of a Jharkhand High Court judgment refusing to entertain the relief for quashing of notification dated May 30, 2019 whereby the private respondents were appointed to the post of District Judge in the Jharkhand Superior Judicial Service on promotion in the State of Jharkhand.
The Division Bench comprising Justice B. V. Nagarathna and Justice Satish Chandra Sharma held, “The appellants shall be entitled for notional promotion from the date other officers have been promoted to the post of District Judge in terms of notification dated 30.05.2019.”
Senior Advocate Vijay Hansaria represented the Appellants while Senior Advocate Ajit Kumar Sinha represented the Respondents.
Factual Background
The first appellant in this case was initially appointed as Munsif [Civil Judge (Junior Division)] and was promoted in the cadre of Civil Judge (Senior Division). The other two appellants who were initially appointed as Civil Judge (Junior Division) were promoted to the cadre of Civil Judge (Senior Division) in 2016. The High Court of Jharkhand issued a notification for appointment in the Jharkhand Superior Judicial Service and the appellants participated in the selection process.
The Jharkhand Superior Judicial Services (Recruitment, Appointment and Condition of Service) Rule, 2001 provide for promotion by Limited Competitive examination, promotion from Civil Judge (Senior Division) and by Direct Recruitment. The cut off marks for determining suitability of a candidate for promotion was fixed as 40 marks and undisputedly appellants had obtained more than 40 marks, however, the persons junior to them were promoted by preparing a merit list and by promoting those who have more marks than the appellants.
The appellants’ writ petition was dismissed by the High Court on the ground that the last selected candidate got 51 marks whereas the first, second and third appellants got 50, 50 & 43 marks respectively.
Arguments
The Appellants had brought the attention of the Court towards the judgment delivered by a Three Judge Bench in the case of Ravikumar Dhansukhlal Maheta and Another Vs. High Court of Gujarat and Others (2024) to contend that in similar circumstances in respect of similar criteria, the Apex Court held that the 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.
Reasoning
The Apex Court too relied upon its ruling in Ravikumar Dhansukhlal Maheta’s Case (Supra) where while dealing with the issue of promotional quota, it was observed that only the suitability of the judicial officer is determined and once it is found that candidates have secured the requisite marks in the suitability test, they cannot be thereafter ignored for promotion.
The Bench asserted, “In light of the aforesaid judgment, as the appellants have 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.”
The Court took note of the fact that the appellants had been subsequently promoted and the issue remained in respect of their seniority alone. The Bench thus held that the appellants would be entitled for promotion from the same date the other officers from the select list prepared by the High Court of Jharkhand have been appointed to the post of District Judge in terms of the 2019 Notification.
Allowing the Civil Appeal and setting aside the orders of the Jharkhand High Court, the Bench directed, “The appellants shall be entitled for notional promotion from the date other officers have been promoted to the post of District Judge in terms of notification dated 30.05.2019. They shall also be entitled for all consequential service benefits, including, seniority, increments, notional pay fixation etc., however, they shall not be entitled for any back wages.”
Cause Title: Dharmendra Kumar Singh & Ors. v. The Hon’ble High Court of Jharkhand & Ors. (Neutral Citation: 2025 INSC 72)
Appearance:
Appellants: Senior Advocate Vijay Hansaria, AOR Akhilesh Kumar Pandey, Advocates Shalini Chandra, Abhishek Kumar Pandey, Kavya Jhawar, Nandini Rai, Nandita Misra
Respondents: Senior Advocate Ajit Kumar Sinha, AOR Ashwarya Sinha, Addl. Standing Counsel Saurabh Jain, AOR Tulika Mukherjee, Advocates Beenu Sharma, Venkat Narayan