Nafr High Court
Case Details
1 Digitally signed by RAGHVENDRA JAT 2025:CGHC:35932 NAFR HIGH COURT OF CHHATTISGARH AT BILASPUR WPS No. 1043 of 2023 1 - Hari Shankar Prasad Tonde S/o Late D. R. Tonde Aged About 44 Years Presently Working As Assistant Professor In The Department Of Computer Science At Sant Gahira Guru Vishwavidyalaya, Ambikapur, District- Sarguja, Chhattisgarh. 2 - Aseem Kerketta S/o Shri Christopher Kerketta Aged About 37 Years Assistant Professor In The Department Of Biotechnology Sant Gahira Guru Vishwavidyalaya, Ambikapur, District- Sarguja, Chhattisgarh. 3 - Khemkaran Ahirwar S/o Shri Babu Lal Ahirwar Aged About 38 Years Assistant Professor In The Department Of Pharmacy At Sant Gahira Guru Vishwavidyalaya, Ambikapur, District- Sarguja, Chhattisgarh. 4 - Dr. Mohammad Junaid Khan S/o Mohammad Ayyub Khan Aged About 41 Years Assistant Professor In The Department Of Pharmacy At Sant Gahira Guru Vishwavidyalaya, Ambikapur, District- Sarguja, Chhattisgarh.
Legal Reasoning
5 - Dr. Manoj Kumar Jhariya S/o Shri Ramesh Prasad Jhariya Aged About 36 Years Assistant Professor In The Department Of Farm Forestry At Sant Gahira Guru Vishwavidyalaya, Ambikapur, District- Sarguja, Chhattisgarh. 6 - Saman Narayan Upadhyay S/o Late Shushil Kumar Upadhyay Aged About 45 Years Assistant Professor In The Department Of Legal Studies At Sant Gahira Guru Vishwavidyalaya, Ambikapur, District- Sarguja, Chhattisgarh. 2 7 - Dr. Rajkumar Upadhyay S/o - Late Chaturbhuj Upadhyay Aged About 42 Years Assistant Professor In The Department Of Functional Hindi At Sant Gahira Guru Vishwavidyalaya, Ambikapur, District- Sarguja, Chhattisgarh. 8 - Dr. Arnav Banarjee S/o Shri Ashok Kumar Banarjee Aged About 42 Years Presently Working As Assistant Professor In The Department Of Environmental Science At Sant Gahira Guru Vishwavidyalaya, Ambikapur, District- Sarguja, Chhattisgarh. 9 - Dr. Joystu Dutta S/o Shri Jyotirmoy Dutta Aged About 34 Years Assistant Professor In The Department Of Environmental Science At Sant Gahira Guru Vishwavidyalaya, Ambikapur, District- Sarguja, Chhattisgarh. 10 - Dr. Sushma D/o Late Sahadan Ram Aged About 43 Years Assistant Professor In The Department Of Farm Forestry At Sant Gahira Guru Vishwavidyalaya, Ambikapur, District- Sarguja, Chhattisgarh. 11 - Dr. Ashish Kumar S/o Shri Faguram Banjara Aged About 39 Years Assistant Professor In The Department Of Biotechnology At Sant Gahira Guru Vishwavidyalaya, Ambikapur, District- Sarguja, Chhattisgarh. 12 - Mukesh Kumar Nag S/o Shri Panna Lal Nag Aged About 36 Years Assistant Professor In The Department Of Pharmacy At Sant Gahira Guru Vishwavidyalaya, Ambikapur, District- Sarguja, Chhattisgarh. 13 - Aanand Kumar Prasad S/o Shri Birendra Prasad Aged About 38 Years Assistant Professor In The Department Of Pharmacy At Sant Gahira Guru Vishwavidyalaya, Ambikapur, District- Sarguja, Chhattisgarh. 14 - Dr. Dheeraj Kumar Yadav S/o Shri Dayaram Yadav Aged About 43 Years Assistant Professor In The Department Of Farm Forestry At Sant Gahira Guru Vishwavidyalaya, Ambikapur, District- Sarguja, Chhattisgarh. 3 15 - Dr. Amrita Kumari Panda D/o Late Ishwar Chandra Panda Aged About 40 Years Assistant Professor In The Department Of Biotechnology At Sant Gahira Guru Vishwavidyalaya, Ambikapur, District- Sarguja, Chhattisgarh ... Petitioner(s) versus 1 - Sant Gahira Guru Vishwavidyalaya Sarguja, Through Its Registrar Sant Gahira Guru Vishwavidyalaya Ambikapur, District - Sauguja, Chhattisgarh. 2 - State Of Chhattisgarh Through Its Secretary, Department Of Higher Education, Mantralaya, Mahanadi Bhawan, Atal Nagar, Raipur, Chhattisgarh. 3 - The University Grant Commission Through Its Secretary, Bahadur Shah Zafar Marg, New Delhi ... Respondent(s) For Petitioner(s) : Mr. Hemant Kesarwani, Advocate. For Respondent(s) No. 1 : Mr. Neeraj Choubey, Advocate. For Respondent/State : Mr. Ashutosh Shukla, Panel Lawyer. For Respondent No. 3 : Mr. B.S. Rajput, Advocate on behalf of Mr. R.K. Gupta, Advocate. Hon’ble Mr. Justice Amitendra Kishore Prasad 24/07/2025 Order on Board 1. By way of this petition, the petitioner has prayed for following reliefs:- “I. That, this Hon'ble Court may kindly be pleased to issue writ (s) /order(s)/direction(s) against the 4 respondent's authority by directing them to immediately convene the meeting of the selection committee under CAS for considering the case of the petitioners for promotion to the next higher level (Senior grade) from its due date, and further direct to consider the case of the petitioners for promotion as an Associate Professor under CAS and also direct them for granting all the consequential services benefits from its due date in accordance with law to the petitioners. II. That, the Hon'ble High Court may kindly be pleased to direct the respondent authority to release the payment of arrears regarding advance. Increment of the Ph.D. and the arrears of annual increment to the petitioners from its due date along with the interest @ 18% P.A. for the delay caused by the respondent University. III. That the Hon'ble court may kindly be pleased to issue appropriate writ's/order's/direction's /relief's, which this Hon'ble Court may think fit and proper in the facts and circumstances of the case.” 2. Brief facts of the case, is that, the petitioners, all of whom have been diligently serving as Assistant Professors under respondent No. 1 University for over eight years, are entitled to promotion to 5 the next level under the Career Advancement Scheme (CAS) in accordance with the applicable statutory norms. As per the University Grants Commission (UGC) regulations, after completing four years of continuous service as Assistant Professors, the petitioners qualify for promotion, subject to the convening of a duly constituted selection committee. However, despite the passage of more than four years since their eligibility, respondent No. 1 has unjustifiably failed to convene the meeting of the selection committee, thereby denying the petitioners their rightful promotion. In addition, the University has arbitrarily withheld the petitioners' annual increments as well as the increments due for completion of their Ph.D. degrees, without assigning any valid reason or justification. This deliberate inaction and failure to comply with the mandatory service rules, as well as circulars issued by the State Government particularly the circular dated 15.01.2021 directing all departments to convene departmental promotion committee meetings within the first quarter of every year demonstrates a clear case of administrative apathy. Despite submitting multiple representations and reminders requesting the convening of the selection committee under CAS, the petitioners have not received any constructive or meaningful response from the University. This inaction not only violates the mandatory provisions of the applicable service rules 6 but also infringes upon the petitioners’ legal and fundamental rights under the Constitution. The arbitrary and discriminatory actions of Respondent No. 1 have caused severe mental harassment and career stagnation for the petitioners, preventing them from achieving higher academic status and progression in their professional field. Therefore, by way of the present writ petition, the petitioners respectfully invoke the extraordinary jurisdiction of this Hon’ble Court under Article 226 of the Constitution of India, seeking urgent and appropriate relief against the unjust and unlawful actions of the respondent authority. 3. Learned counsel for the petitioners submits that, with respect to the Carrier Advanced Scheme (CAS), several of the petitioners have already been granted the relief that they initially sought in their petition. In view of this favorable development and the satisfaction of the relief sought by certain petitioners, it is respectfully prayed that the petitioners be granted the liberty to withdraw the present petition. Moreover, in the interest of ensuring that any remaining concerns or issues are appropriately addressed, the petitioners further request that they be permitted to file a formal representation before the relevant authorities. This representation would seek the necessary action and relief 7 concerning the grant of the Carrier Advanced Scheme (CAS) as per the applicable rules and regulations. 4. On the other hand, remaining learned counsel for the respondents opposes the same. 5. I have heard learned counsel for the parties and perused the material available on record. 6. After thoroughly considering the submissions put forth by both the parties, this Court hereby directs the petitioners to submit a detailed representation, encapsulating all of their grievances. The petitioners are directed to file a representation raising all their grievances before the authorities concerned within a period of two weeks and, in turn, the concerned authorities are directed to decide the said representation within a period of eight weeks, in accordance with law.
Decision
7. Accordingly, the writ petition is disposed of. Sd/- (Amitendra Kishore Prasad) Judge Raghu Jat