Decks are clear of promotion from non-RAS to IAS after Rajasthan High Court dismissed the plea of RAS Association which has challenging the quota fixed for promotion of Non-RAS officers to IAS.
The court has also imposed a fine of Rs 5 lakh on the RAS Association for wasting the court's time by filing a petition due to personal interests.
About a year and a half ago, on July 7, 2023, the Rajasthan High Court, while hearing the petition of the RAS Association, had put a stay on promotion of non-RAS officers to IAS. Later the court had reserved the judgement after completing the hearing on November 26.
With the dismissal of the petition, the ban on promotion has also been lifted. Double bench of Justices Pankaj Bhandari and Shubha Mehta pronounced the decision.
RAS Association says, the judgement is unexpected
Former IAS R C Jain, who was also promoted from RAS and was two-time president of RAS Association said that the decision has come as a big blow to the Association.
“I don't know why court has slapped penalty of Rs 5 lakh. If the petition had no merit, High Court should not have admitted it in the first place. Imposing penalty is harsh and unfounded. I still believe that the rules of UPSC regarding promotion of non RAS to IAS need to be interpreted in a better way,” he said.
RAS Association president Mahaveer Kharadi said that the decision of High Court is unexpected and unfortunate.
”The High Court had given stay on promotion after hearing our arguments. The court had also refused to vacate the stay when the state had approached the court. The penalty imposed on us is also beyond comprehension. We will take further course of action after going through the full judgement,” he said.
Government's argument prevailed
Pleading on behalf of the government, Additional Advocate General Vigyan Shah told the court that the state government was giving promotions to state cadre officers as per the IAS Promotion Rules, 1954. Under the rule, the State government can appoint specialist officers from other services to the post of IAS while taking opinions from the Central government.
In the rules, it is clear that the government can promote non-RAS officers to IAS on 15 percent of the posts of promotion.
In all the promotions that have taken place so far, the government has never crossed this limit. At the same time, only RAS officers are being promoted to IAS on the remaining posts.
Shah pleaded that the petition filed by the RAS Association is based on the apprehension that RAS officers will get fewer opportunities for promotion if non RAS officers also get chance to become IAS officers as per the rule.
Why RAS are objecting
Rajasthan Administrative Service body says that under the All India Service Act (Rules and Regulations) there was a provision to fill 66.67 per cent of posts through direct IAS cadres and 33.33 per cent should be filled by giving promotion to state cadre officers. The body argues that only in exceptional cases, the 33.33 per cent quota can be filled by officers belonging to other services.
“But, the State government was treating execration as a rule and has been promoting officers from other services to the IAS cadre every year. This is cutting down the promotion prospects of RAS officers, even when eligible and capable officers are available,” said their counsel Tanveer Ahmed.
What rules of UPSC say
Union Public Service Commission (UPSC) recruits and manages cadre of all the Group A officers including IAS, IPS and IFS. The commission has created All India Services (AIS), which assist the commission in induction of State Services Officers into the All India Services through promotion or by selection.
The number of persons recruited by way of promotion selection in any state or group of states shall not, at any time, exceed 33.33% of the total cadre strength of the All India Service. For NSCS, the number of persons recruited by way of selection shall not at any time exceed 15% of the number of persons recruited against promotion quota which is 33.33% of the cadre strength.
The BuckStopper, run by a group of seasoned journalists, holds the powerful accountable. The buck stops with them, as they cannot shrug off their official responsibilities.
