Delhi High Court Dismisses Review Petition by ITS Officer Seeking Retrospective Promotion; Holds No Error Apparent in Earlier Order

Headnote

The Delhi High Court has dismissed a review petition filed by Ashok Kumar Singh, an officer of the Indian Telecom Service (ITS), seeking review of its earlier judgment dated 22 March 2023, which had refused his claim for retrospective regularisation of promotion. The Bench of Hon’ble Mr. Justice V. Kameswar Rao and Hon’ble Mr. Justice Vinod Kumar held that there was no error apparent on the face of the record warranting review under established principles of law. The petitioner had sought regularisation of his promotion to Senior Time Scale (STS) from 31 January 2011, contending that he became eligible earlier. However, the Court observed that as per the recruitment rules, promotion from Junior Time Scale (JTS) to STS requires four years of regular service, which the petitioner attained only in 2015. Since the petition essentially attempted to re-argue the merits, the Court dismissed the review petition and accompanying applications as devoid of merit. Court observed Promotion to STS requires four years of regular JTS service. The petitioner attained eligibility only in 2015 and was promoted on 19 February 2016. No ground for review as earlier order correctly applied rules. Review petition dismissed.

Background:

Ashok Kumar Singh, an officer of the Indian Telecom Service (Group A), approached the Central Administrative Tribunal seeking promotion to the Junior Time Scale (JTS) cadre with effect from 1 January 2003 and regularisation of his promotion to the Senior Time Scale (STS) with effect from 31 January 2011. His plea was rejected, following which he filed W.P.(C) 5887/2019 before the Delhi High Court. The writ petition was dismissed by order dated 22 March 2023. Aggrieved, he filed the present review petition under Order XLVII CPC, alleging errors apparent in the earlier judgment.

Legal Provision Concerned:

Order XLVII, Code of Civil Procedure, 1908 — Review of judgment permissible only on discovery of new evidence, error apparent on record, or other sufficient reason.

Service Rules: Promotion from JTS to STS requires four years of regular service in JTS as per ITS Recruitment Rules.

Court’s Opinion / Analysis:

The Court found no ground to interfere with its earlier decision. It reiterated that the petitioner had been promoted to JTS on 30 December 2011, attaining eligibility for STS only in 2015. Since he was promoted on a regular basis on 19 February 2016, his claim for retrospective promotion from 2011 lacked legal foundation.

The Bench emphasised that the review jurisdiction is limited and cannot be invoked to re-argue the merits of a case. The petitioner’s claim that his juniors were promoted earlier was also found incorrect, as no such instance was shown. Accordingly, the Court held that the petition amounted to a re-litigation attempt and dismissed it.

Case Title: Ashok Kumar Singh v. Union of India & Ors.

Court: Delhi High Court

Coram: Hon’ble Mr. Justice V. Kameswar Rao & Hon’ble Mr. Justice Vinod Kumar

Date of Judgment: 6 October 2025

Citation: W.P.(C) 5887/2019; Review Petition No. 113/2023