- (1.) In this writ petition, the petitioner has made the following prayers:- (1) Issue an appropriate writ, order or direction quashing the retirement of the petitioner from service and direct the respondents to reinstate and promote the petitioner to the ranks to which his batchmates have been promoted having regard to his overall above average record of service revealed in the annual confidential reports. (2) Declare that the denial of status, rank, pay and allowances and pensionary benefits of the posts of the level of Commanding Officer of Regiment to the petitioner and his demotion to the level of the Second-in-Command of Regiment/Officer Commanding minor unit were illegal. (3) Direct the respondents to pay the arrears of pay and allowances and consequential financial benefits to the petitioner. (4) Fix compensation and direct the respondents to pay the same to the petitioner for causing humiliation, mental agony, loss of prestige and reputation to the petitioner and members of his family for a period of 10 years. (5) Quash all reports which contain uncommunicated, unjustified and illegal adverse remarks. (6) Frame contempt of Court proceedings against the respondents for suppressing facts from the Hon'ble Court. (7) Dispense with service of advance notice on the respondents. (8) Accept filing of certified true copies of annexures. (9) Issue any other appropriate writ, order or direction which this Hon'ble Court may deem fit, just and proper. (10) Award cost of petition to the petitioner.
(2.) Before I adjudicate on the, claim made by the petitioner, it will be proper to make reference to the fact that the petitioner had filed C.W.P. No. 414 of 1988, which was accepted by a learned Single Judge of this Court on 22.3.1990, but was dismissed by a Division Bench on 26.7.1991 when it allowed L.P.A. No. 900 of 1990, The Union of India and another v. Lt. Colonel S.P. Kapoor. Since the petitioner's claim is that the dismissal of his previous writ petition has no real consequence on the prayers made by him in this case, I deem it proper to quote the prayers made by the petitioner in his previous writ petition (CM .P. 414 of 1988). These prayers are :- (1) To issue an appropriate writ, order or direction quashing the orders superseding the petitioner and direct the respondents to promote him having regard to his above/high average record of service as revealed in the annual confidential reports. (2) To quash those reports of the petitioner which are not in consonance with his general above average record of service. (3) To direct the respondents to keep the name of the petitioner under review for promotion in terms of paragraph 69 of the Regulations. (4) To direct the respondents to refix the pay of the petitioner having regard to his basic pay which he was drawing prior to refixation formula. (5) To direct the respondents to protect the pay of the petitioner in terms of the earlier pay drawn by him vis-a-vis officers whose pay scales have been fixed higher than that of the petitioner. (6) To direct the respondents to keep one post vacant for posting the petitioner in order to ensure that his status is not lowered in view of the fact that he holds rank of Selection Grade Lt. Colonel. (7) To accept filing of certified copies of annexures. (8) To dispense with service of advance notice on respondents. (9) To award cost of the petition to the petitioner. While adjudicating on the claim made by the petitioner in his previous petition, a learned Single Judge of this Court held:- "After hearing the counsel for the parties and having gone through the relevant records, I find that the writ petition deserves to be allowed as the petitioner has been superseded for promotion on the basis of non-existent data and the changed criteria of qualitative requirement, for which reasons his case deserves to be reviewed and considered for promotion once again.
(3.) The claim of the petitioner for fresh consideration became fortified as from the records it becomes evident that earlier annual confidential reports had not been recorded by the reporting authorities on the basis of "objective assessment of the performance of the petitioner and that there was nothing in his service record which could be considered as a disqualification for further promotion. Resultantly, the petitioner was entitled for fresh consideration of his case for further promotion to the rank of Colonel and above.;