Can employers deny your promotion because they wrongfully kept you out of work?

In this case, the Supreme Court of India addressed a critical question: Can an employer deny promotions or higher pay scales to an employee because they lack performance reports (ACRs) for the years they were kept out of service due to wrongful termination? The employee, Abhay Jain, was wrongfully discharged from his job as a judicial officer in 2016. In 2022, the Supreme Court ordered his reinstatement with continuity of service, seniority, and all consequential benefits. When the time came to grant him higher pay scales (Selection Scale and Super Time Scale), the Rajasthan High Court administration refused, arguing that he did not have the mandatory performance reports for six out of the last seven years. The Supreme Court rejected this argument. The Court held that an employer cannot take advantage of its own wrongdoing. Since the High Court itself wrongfully terminated Jain and kept him away from work, it was responsible for the missing reports. The Court ruled that in such situations, the employee's promotion must be evaluated using their remaining valid performance reports. Consequently, the Supreme Court directed the High Court to grant Abhay Jain the Selection Scale starting from July 2018 and the Super Time Scale from July 2021, along with his calculated arrears, within three months.

Abhay Jain, a judicial officer, was wrongfully discharged from service in 2016. In 2022, the Supreme Court ordered his reinstatement with full benefits, but the High Court administration denied him promotions, claiming he lacked the required yearly performance reports for the years he was out of service.

The Supreme Court ruled that the employer was responsible for the missing reports and ordered the High Court to grant Jain his promotions and higher scales from his original dates of eligibility (2018 and 2021). The Court also ordered that all resulting arrears must be paid within three months.

This judgment establishes that a worker cannot be punished twice: first by being wrongfully terminated, and second by losing promotions due to a lack of work records during that period. It forces employers to act fairly and take responsibility for their own mistakes.