Illegal Past Promotions Cannot be a Ground for Further Promotion

Illegal promotion not a ground for further promotion

Illegal promotions granted in the past cannot serve as a basis for continuing illegal promotions, says the Supreme Court ( SC) in Jyostnamayee Mishra v The State of Odisha & Others [2025 INSC 87].

Illegal benefit cannot be cited as a principle

The SC says that a benefit conferred without legal basis cannot be relied upon as a principle of parity. That means, if there has been a benefit or advantage conferred on one or a set of people, without legal basis or justification, that benefit cannot multiply, or be relied upon as a principle of parity or equality.

Past promotion against rules not a ground for promotion

In this case, a retired peon sought promotion to the post of Tracer based on the previous illegal promotion of her counterparts, even though the recruitment rules specified that the post of Tracer should be filled through direct recruitment.

SC relied on an earlier judgement

In arriving at the decision, the SC referred to the case of R. Muthukumar & others v The Chairman and Managing Director TANGEDCO & others, in which the court held that “if there has been a benefit or advantage conferred on one or a set of people, without legal basis or justification, that benefit cannot multiply, or be relied upon as a principle of parity or equality”.

References

  1. Jyostnamayee Mishra v The State of Odisha & Others [2025 INSC 87]
  2. R. Muthukumar & others v The Chairman and Managing Director TANGEDCO & others