The Supreme Court affirmed on Friday that although employees don't possess an inherent right to promotion, they do have the right to be considered for advancement unless specifically disqualified.

A two-judge bench comprising Justices Sudhanshu Dhulia and K Vinod Chandran delivered this ruling while hearing an appeal from a Tamil Nadu police constable who challenged being denied consideration for promotion to sub-inspector.

"It is trite that the employee has no right to be promoted but has a right to be considered when selections for promotions are carried out, unless disqualified; which right has been impinged, unjustly, in the above case," the Court stated.

The case involved a constable who had faced both departmental and criminal proceedings for allegedly assaulting a colleague at a checkpost. Though arrested, he was eventually acquitted in the criminal case, and the government had set aside his departmental punishment in 2009.

Despite this, the Superintendent of Police had barred him from promotion consideration, citing a May 2005 disciplinary action that postponed his increment for one year. The Court noted that this punishment had been overturned in November 2009.

"In such circumstances, the appellant could not have been disentitled from a consideration in the year 2019," the bench ruled, adding, "We are of the opinion that the appellant must be considered for promotion, dehors any disentitlement due to his having become overaged."

The Court directed that the constable be evaluated for promotion from 2019 and, if found eligible, receive all consequential benefits, emphasizing that the denial of consideration based on a punishment already set aside was not the appellant's fault.

This judgment overturned a Madras High Court decision from October 2023 that had dismissed the constable's plea. The Supreme Court noted that the officer, initially appointed in March 2002, was eligible for consideration under the 20 percent departmental quota when notifications were issued in 2019.