Supreme Court Rejects IAS Officer's Plea For Promotion To Chief Secretary Grade

The Supreme Court today (April 23) dismissed the plea of a Kerala cadre IAS Officer for promotion equivalent to the Chief Secretary Post.

The bench of Justices P.S. Narasimha and Joymalya Bagchi declined to interfere with the Kerala High Court's decision, which denied his promotion on the ground that he did not meet the requirement of having 90% of his Annual Confidential Reports (ACRs) completed, an essential criterion for promotion, thus rendering him ineligible.

In the impugned judgment, the High Court noted that it would be impossible for the Screening Committee to assess the Appellant's case for promotion when his ACRs were not on record, moreover, the Court noted that he didn't lay an evidence stating that the requisite 90% ACRs were submitted to the screening committee for ascertaining his promotion eligibility. 

The High Court observation, which was approved by the Supreme Court, states:

"The petitioner is a senior civil servant. He would have been aware that 90% of his ACR was not available. The screening committee was handicapped in considering his request for want of ACR. The petitioner has a case that he had submitted a self-appraisal form but nothing is available on record to show that he had submitted the self-appraisal form. The Screening Committee considered the case of the petitioner with the available records and found that performance was not satisfactory. As seen from various ACRs produced before this Court, and Annexure A8, the ACR has to be self generated and to be reported before the Reporting Officer. Nothing prevents the petitioner from generating a self-appraisal form and making the complete ACR available before the Screening Committee. The Committee will have to meet at regular intervals to fill up various vacancies during the course of year as seen from para.8 of Annexure A8. The present exercise cannot be interfered with as the non-inclusion of the petitioner was for want of ACR. Therefore, nothing prevents the petitioner from moving the authorities for the preparation of his ACR and making a request for considering him for the promotion in the grade of Chief Secretary."

Background

The Appellant-Dr. Swamy, an IAS officer from the 1991 batch, was not considered for promotion to the apex scale, equivalent to the Chief Secretary's grade. He contended that this exclusion was unjust, especially given his seniority and unblemished service record.

Dr. Swamy initially approached the Central Administrative Tribunal (CAT), Ernakulam Bench, Kerala, challenging the state's decision to overlook him for the apex scale promotion equivalent to the Chief Secretary rank. The CAT dismissed his petition, upholding the state's stance.

Subsequently, he filed an appeal in the Kerala High Court arguing that he was not seeking direct appointment as Chief Secretary, but eligibility for promotion based on completion of 30 years in service and absence of adverse Annual Confidential Reports (ACRs).

Noting that the requirement of 90% complete ACRs was vital for consideration for promotion, the High Court dismissed Dr. Swamy's appeal since the Appellant was not able to show that he had submitted 90% ACRs, making him eligible for promotion. However, the High Court granted him liberty to seek promotion after completing the requisite ACRs.

Aggrieved by the High Court's decision, Dr. Swamy appealed to the Supreme Court.

Case Title: Raju Narayana Swamy vs. State of Kerala & Others (Civil Appeal No. 3215/2025)

Citation : 2025 LiveLaw (SC) 462

Click here to read the judgment