Can a long-standing job promotion be canceled because of minor procedural rules?

The Supreme Court of India restored the promotion of an employee, S. P. Chandrakar, who was promoted to the post of Additional Manager in a cooperative bank in 2010. Originally hired as a technical worker (Assistant Engineer), his promotion was challenged by a co-worker, Kishor Bagh. The co-worker argued that technical employees were barred from administrative posts under the old rules. However, the government's Registrar had deleted this restrictive rule in 2005. The High Court had canceled the promotion, stating that the rule change was published as a simple circular instead of a formal order, and was not presented before the state legislature as required. The Supreme Court overturned the High Court's decision. It held that the authority who has the power to make rules also has the power to change or delete them. It clarified that calling a rule change a 'circular' does not make it invalid as long as the authority had the power to make that change. Furthermore, the Court explained that the requirement to present new rules to the State Assembly is directory, not mandatory, because the law does not mention any punishment or cancellation if it is not done. Finally, the Court ruled that since the appellant worked in the promoted post for over thirteen years, his long-standing service should not be disturbed.

S. P. Chandrakar was promoted from a technical role to an administrative post in a cooperative bank after the governing rules restricting such promotions were deleted by the Registrar. A co-worker challenged this, claiming the rule change was technically invalid, and the High Court agreed, canceling the promotion after thirteen years of service.

The Supreme Court set aside the High Court's order and fully restored Chandrakar's promotion and seniority. The Court ordered the bank to pay him 50% of his back wages within two months, along with all consequential promotional benefits.

This judgment clarifies that minor bureaucratic errors or delays in presenting rules to the legislature do not invalidate otherwise lawful government decisions. It protects honest employees from losing their hard-earned promotions due to technical procedural lapses or long-pending court cases.