By Our Correspondent
BHUBANESWAR: CJI Surya Kant viewed that And against a cadre post, if I remember correctly, there is no automatic promotion. There is a selection process. There has to be a selection process.
Odisha AG: The Court is correct under the pay rules. If there are two cadre posts, then there have to be two ex-cadre posts.
CJI Surya Kant: There is another provision, which probably most States have now forgotten, and that is the provision which gave rise to the Royappa case.
There is another power where, if you want to post an officer elsewhere, you can create a post and declare that post equivalent to the cadre post. Suppose a Collector is posted to some XYZ post and the Government declares that post equivalent to Chief Secretary.
Like in Royappa, he was posted as OSD. He continued to hold the rank of Chief Secretary because the post was declared equivalent.
UPSC Counsel: Can I clarify one thing? I appear for the UPSC. As per Clause 2 of our guidelines, it is as on the date of vacancy, which is August 16.
Please see page 25, Clause 2(c). It is highlighted in the guidelines themselves:
“The normal zone of consideration shall consist of officers who are holding the post of Director General of Police in the State cadre in Level 16 of the Pay Matrix, as on date of occurrence of vacancy.”
SG Tushar Mehta: A few months down the line, there are only two DG-level officers.
CJI Surya Kant: Yes.
SG Tushar Mehta: The two cadre posts are occupied. So far as the two ex-cadre posts are concerned, one of the incumbents was to retire around August 16 or 17, 2026.
So, physically and factually, one of the senior-most officers in Level 15 moved to Level 16 from August. The next officer in Level 15 would occupy Level 16 only with effect from December 1, 2026.
CJI Surya Kant: November 30?
SG Tushar Mehta: Yes, November 30.
That supports our case that there is nothing mala fide. He is not in Level 16 as of now. He will become Level 16 in November. We do not have to start the entire procedure again after retirement. Therefore, we started it a little early. This happens in every small State.
