Tripura HC sets aside promotions; orders reversion of 22 TPS grade-II officers

Agartala, Dec 11 (PTI) A division bench of the Tripura High Court has set aside the promotions of 22 Tripura Police Service (TPS) grade-II officers and ordered that they be reverted to their original post of inspector, overturning a previous ruling of a single bench, a lawyer said on Thursday.

The development comes in the wake of a writ petition filed by 22 inspectors seeking one-time age relaxation for promotion after the promotion process in the state remained stalled for several years.

In January 2023, a single bench of the HC allowed their plea, following which the state government promoted all 22 officers to TPS grade-II.

According to the Tripura Public Service Commission (TPSC) guidelines, officers aged 55 years or above are not eligible for promotion to the next higher post.

Challenging the single bench order, 17 inspectors belonging to Scheduled Tribe and Scheduled Caste categories, led by Jatindra Das, filed a writ petition before the division bench.

They contended that they were denied promotion due to the elevation of the 22 inspectors who had already crossed the eligible age limit of 55 years.

"After hearing the case, Chief Justice MS Ramchandra Rao on Wednesday reversed the single bench's order and asked the government to revert all the 22 TPS grade II officers to the post of inspector (original post)", senior lawyer Sankar Lodh, who moved the case in favour of the petitioners told reporters.

Lodh added, "The division bench in its order cancelled the single bench's order and directed the government to fill up the vacancies from the pool of all the eligible candidates for the post of TPS grade II at the earliest". PTI PS MNB