Summary
The withdrawal of selection-grade benefits in Haryana in 1987 did not eliminate the experience criteria governing promotion from Sub-Inspector to Inspector under the Punjab Police Rules, 1934. Read together, the promotion rules retained the requirement of eight years’ approved upper-subordinate service, including five as Sub-Inspector, for the disputed promotions. Earlier entry as a directly recruited Sub-Inspector did not dispense with eligibility. The challenged promotions were upheld.
Issues
- Whether abolition of selection grades made Rule 13.14’s experience requirement inapplicable to promotion as Inspector.
Provisions considered
- Rules 13.1, 13.14, 13.15 and 13.16, Punjab Police Rules, 1934, as applicable in HaryanaThe connected promotion scheme retained the experience requirement despite withdrawal of selection-grade benefits. (¶ 14-21)
Held
- The rules required promotion through List F, linked its ordering to selection-grade promotion, and prescribed experience for that intermediate assessment. Their provisions had to be read together rather than treating the selection-grade eligibility mechanism as purposeless after 1987. (¶ 14-19)
- Withdrawal of the financial selection-grade scheme did not amend the statutory rules. The State uniformly continued to require eight years’ approved service as an upper subordinate, including at least five as Sub-Inspector, for direct recruits and promotees before the 2017 Rules. Its use of that standard for the challenged promotions was valid. (¶¶ 18-19, 21)
- A purposive construction should make the statutory scheme operative and advance its object. The assessment of experience for higher police responsibilities could not be discarded merely because selection-grade benefits had ceased. The High Court’s construction and the private respondents’ promotions were therefore upheld. (¶ 19-21)
Result
Appeals dismissed. High Court judgment upholding the challenged Inspector promotions affirmed.