- (1.) Petitioner seeks Writ of Certiorarified Mandamus to quash the order declining to promote the Petitioner to the rank of Lt. General and order retiring him from service and to consider promotion of the Petitioner to the rank of Lt. General.
(2.) Brief facts which led to the filing of the Writ Petition are as follows: (i) Defence Research and Development Organisation [DRDO] is a Scientific Organisation set up under the Ministry of Defence. DRDO was established to design and develop Military hardware for the country keeping abreast of the latest developments and advances in the field of Defence Sciences. (ii) The cadre of Officers engaged in Research and Development comprises mainly of civilian Scientists recruited from the open market. Some of the service Officers have been inducted into the organisation on permanent basis and such Officers are known as "Permanently Seconded Service Officers"[PSSO]. Petitioner was one of such PSSO and he was permanently inducted into DRDO w.e.f. 25.5.1983 in the rank of Major. The terms and conditions of the Service of PSSO are governed by Government of India, Ministry of Defence OM No. Pers/18601/RD Sel Bd/7971/D(R&D) dated 23.11.1979. (iii) As per the said OM No. Pers/18601/RD Sel Bd/7971/D(R&D) dated 23.11.1979, retirement age of all PSSOs up to the rank of Major General is 59 years subject to the reviews at the age of 54 and 57 years. Officer holding the rank of Lt. General retires on attaining the age of 60 years or on completion of 4 years tenure as substantive Lt. General whichever is earlier. (iv) Petitioner had attained the age of superannuation on 29.02.2008. Since the proposal for his promotion to the rank of Lt. General was under consideration, Ministry of Defence approved an initial extension of service by 3 months (dated 29.02.2008) followed by another extension by one month (30.05.2008). Appointments Committee of the Cabinet (ACC) did not approve promotion of the Petitioner to the rank of Lt. General Following non-approval of proposal for promotion, impugned order No. DOP/04/48006/P/01/Rtmt dated 03.6.2008 was issued which is challenged in this Writ Petition.
(3.) Union of India filed counter stating that on 29.2.2008 Petitioner already retired as Major General and that while he was in extension, promotion was not possible. According to UOI, as per policy of Government appointments against such posts can be made only after the recommendations of the Selection Board are approved. Further contention of Union of India is that ACC has not approved promotion of the Petitioner and the same cannot be challenged.;