Juniors' promotion does not entitle senior to the same: High Court

NEW DELHI: There is no law that a person has to be promoted because juniors below him have been actively encouraged, the Delhi High Court has said while dismissing a plea by an employee of a hydropower company.

"The present writ petition is totally bereft of a legal cause of action because there is no law that a person has to be promoted because juniors below to him have been promoted," Justice Valmiki J Mehta said.

The employee of National Hydroelectric Power Corporation (NHPC) had approached the high court claiming he was not promoted from the post of Assistant Engineer (Mechanical).

The NHPC countered its employee claim on the ground that he did not even satisfy the requirements for being appointed as an Assistant Engineer (Mechanical), because for this post he needed a diploma in engineering discipline of three years and he only held a certificate of proficiency of one year duration from the Central Water Commission of the government of India, which is not fit for the present post.

Agreeing with the NHPC's contention, the court observed that there is not even a whisper of a legal cause of action in terms of which the petitioner would seek promotion to a higher post.