SC: Re-examine promotion policy

The SC today directed the Punjab Government to review the criteria for promoting Class IV employees to Class III in order to remove the anomaly in the qualifications required for direct recruits and those seeking promotion.

A Bench comprising Justices Aftab Alam and RM Lodha gave the ruling while setting aside a Punjab and Haryana Court verdict, holding that those seeking promotion to Class III need not qualify the typewriting test in Punjabi but this was necessary for direct recruits. The HC was “quite wrong” in arriving at the finding as the 1994 Rules did not deal with appointments to Class IV posts and did not provide for promotion from Class IV as a mode of recruitment to Class III posts.