An officer against whom a vigilance proceeding is initiated following a preliminary enquiry, which prima facie establishes the charge, is ineligible for inclusion in a promotion select list under the Kerala State and Subordinate Services Rules (KS&SSR), observed the Kerala High Court in Anoop Varkey v. G.S. Sajiprasad & Ors. [2025: KER:31193].
As per Note (i) to Rule 28(b)(i)(7) of Part II KS&SSR, two conditions are to be satisfied for excluding an officer from the select list:
- a vigilance/departmental proceeding is initiated and
- it was initiated after a preliminary enquiry to prima facie establish the charge.
If an FIR is lodged after such a preliminary enquiry against an officer by the Kerala Vigilance and Anti-Corruption Bureau, the above twin conditions are attracted. Therefore, the name of the officer cannot be included in the select promotion list. However, if it is only a disciplinary proceeding, the above conditions would be attracted only when a charge memo is issued.
The High Court relied on State of Kerala & Ors. v. Babu Prasad G S [2019 KHC 940] in arriving at this decision.
