SANJIB BANERJEE, J. - (1.) The grievance of the petitioner herein is that a promotion that was due to the petitioner in July of 2008 was originally stalled on the ground that the employer contemplated instituting disciplinary action against the petitioner, it was subsequently denied to the petitioner on the ground that the disciplinary action was instituted against the petitioner and it was finally declined, notwithstanding the initial disciplinary action being dropped, on the ground that a minor penalty had been slapped on the petitioner in the subsequent disciplinary action by the time the first action had been abandoned.
(2.) The petitioner was then the Senior Manager (Vigilance) in the Legal Department of Coal India Limited. The petitioner's case for promotion was considered by a departmental promotional committee and there is no dispute that the petitioner was recommended for promotion and the petitioner would have obtained the same within reasonable time of July, 2008. However, at such inopportune time for the petitioner, a complaint surfaced to the effect that the petitioner had induced his superiors or the employer to pass an extremely unusual order of the petitioner being appointed in the organisation that he joined on deputation, but with retrospective effect from the date of his coming on deputation.
(3.) Such charge was inquired into at the preliminary stage to decide whether it merited any action and since Coal India Limited is a Government company and judicial orders reveal the several baggage's that it otherwise carries, the process of a complaint or information ripening into a disciplinary action by the issuance of a charge-sheet took about 14 months till December, 2009. Thus, the petitioner's case for promotion stood stalled from July, 2008 to December, 2009, without any disciplinary action being instituted against the petitioner, but on the apprehension or anticipation that disciplinary proceedings could be launched against him.;