1 NAFR HIGH COURT OF CHHATTISGARH AT BILASPUR WPS No. 9649 of 2023 1 - Chidanand Kumar Sahu S/o Bisahu Ram Sahu Aged About 48 Years Working On The Post Of Daftari At Labour Court Korba, District Korba (C.G.) ... Petitioner(s) versus 1 - State Of Chhattisgarh Through The Secretary, Department Of Labour, Mahanadi Bhawan, Mantralaya, Nava Raipur Atal Nagar, Raipur, District Raipur (C.G.) 2 - Chhattisgarh Industrial Court Through Its Registrar Raipur, District Raipur (C.G.) 3 - The President Chhattisgarh Industrial Court, Raipur, District Raipur (C.G.) ... Respondent(s) For Petitioner(s) : Mr. Vikas Dubey, Advocate. For Respondent(s)/State : Mr. Devesh G. Kela, Panel Lawyer. Hon’ble Mr. Justice Amitendra Kishore Prasad Order on Board 06/11/2025 1. By way of this petition, the petitioner has prayed for following reliefs:- RAGHVENDRA JAT Digitally signed by RAGHVENDRA JAT 2 “10.1 To kindly call for the records of the case from the respondents. 10.2 To kindly direct the respondent no. 2 & 3 to reconsider the promotion order dated 9/11/2022 (Annexure P/1) and consider the case of the petitioner for promotion on the post of Assistant Grade III instead of Daftari with all consequential benefits. 10.3 To kindly make any other order that may be deemed fit and just in the facts and circumstances of the case.” 2. Brief facts of the case, is that, the petitioner is aggrieved by the action of the respondents in not considering his candidature for promotion to the post of Assistant Grade-III and instead granting him promotion to the post of Daftari, which is also a Class IV post. Accordingly, the petitioner seeks appropriate directions for reconsideration and modification of the promotion order dated 09.11.2022 issued by respondent No. 3. The petitioner was initially appointed as Peon/Chowkidar (Class IV) on 24.06.2009 by respondent No. 3. As per the applicable service rules, Class IV employees who have completed five years of continuous service and possess the requisite educational qualifications of Higher Secondary and Diploma in Computer Applications (DCA) are eligible for promotion to the post of Assistant Grade-III. The petitioner fulfills all these eligibility conditions, however, despite being fully qualified, his claim for promotion to the post of Assistant Grade-III was ignored, and he was instead promoted as 3 Daftari by the impugned order dated 09.11.2022. The petitioner contends that fair and lawful consideration for promotion in accordance with the statutory rules is his fundamental right, and the arbitrary denial of the same is violative of the principles of natural justice and fairness. Hence, being aggrieved by such illegal and discriminatory action, the petitioner has approached this Hon’ble Court by way of the present writ petition seeking redressal of his grievance. 3. Learned counsel for the petitioner submits that the petitioner was serving as a Peon/Chowkidar (Class-IV) in the office of the Labour Court, Korba, and as per the applicable service rules, he became eligible for promotion to the post of Assistant Grade-III (A.G.-III) upon completion of five years of continuous service. It is stated that the petitioner was initially appointed on 24.06.2009 to the post of Peon/Chowkidar (Class-IV) against a vacant post and has since completed the requisite period of qualifying service. However, despite fulfilling all the eligibility criteria and having an unblemished service record, the authorities, instead of granting him promotion to the higher post of Assistant Grade-III (Class-III), erroneously promoted him to the post of Daftari, which also falls within the same Class-IV category, thereby depriving him of his rightful and legitimate claim for promotion to the higher post in accordance with the rules. In addition, he further submits that the petitioner is having all requisite qualifications and he is entitled for promotion. 4 4. Notices were issued to the respondents including the State. State has filed his reply in which he has stated that respondents No. 2 & 3 are the contesting respondents and the appropriate reply can be given by respondents No. 2 & 3. 5. The respondents No. 2 & 3 have served the notice. From the postal track record which has been annexed by the Registry of this Court, it appears they were duly delivered on 10.1.2024, however, till date neither any representation has been made on behalf of respondents No. 2 & 3 nor any reply has been filed after engaging any counsel. It seems that respondents No. 2 & 3 are not going to file reply in this case and perhaps they have admitted the claim of the petitioner. 6. I have heard learned counsel for the parties and perused the material available on record. 7. Considering the aforesaid aspects of the matter and taking into account the provisions contained in the Chhattisgarh Labour Judiciary Class-III (Non-Gazetted) Service Recruitment Rules, 2010, it is observed that as per Schedule-IV, at Serial No. 6, the next promotional post for a Class-IV employee is that of Assistant Grade-III (A.G.-III) upon completion of five years of qualifying service. Since the petitioner has already completed the requisite period of five years of service, there appears to be no legal impediment in considering his case for promotion. Accordingly, the concerned respondent authorities, i.e., respondents No. 2 and 3, are directed to consider the petitioner’s case for promotion to the 5 post of A.G.-III in accordance with the relevant rules and to pass a reasoned and appropriate order within a period of 45 days from the date of receipt of a copy of this order. 8. With this observation and direction, the writ petition is disposed of. Sd/- (Amitendra Kishore Prasad) Judge Raghu Jat