Jaipur: In a ruling safeguarding the service rights of judicial officers, Supreme Court has held that an employer cannot deny career progression by taking advantage of its own wrongful action.The court directed that Rajasthan Judicial Service officer Abhay Jain be granted Selection Scale with effect from July 16, 2018, and Super Time Scale from July 16, 2021, despite the non-availability of Annual Confidential Reports (ACRs) for the intervening period when he was kept out of service following his wrongful discharge. Jain is presently posted as principal district judge at Bhilwara.A bench of Justice JB Pardiwala and Justice Manoj Misra passed the order Wednesday while deciding an application filed by Rajasthan High Court seeking clarification on whether its earlier 2022 judgement granting Jain reinstatement with continuity of service, seniority and consequential benefits also entitled him to Selection Scale and Super Time Scale.Senior advocate PS Patwalia, appearing for Jain, argued that the judicial officer could not be penalised for the absence of ACRs from 2016 to 2021 because he was unlawfully kept out of service after his discharge, which was later quashed by Supreme Court. “Denying Selection Scale and Super Time Scale would render the court’s earlier direction granting ‘all consequential benefits’ meaningless,” he argued.Patwalia further submitted that an employer cannot derive any advantage from its own wrongful act and that Jain’s case should be considered based on the valid ACRs available for 2013, 2014 and 2022.Appearing for the high court on its administrative side, Advocate-on-Record Gopal Jha submitted that the full court found Jain unsuitable for Selection Scale and Super Time Scale as the mandatory number of ACRs required under Rajasthan Judicial Service Rules and Full Court resolution were unavailable because he remained out of service for several years.Rejecting the high court’s stand, Supreme Court held that the “non-availability of ACRs was solely a consequence of the employer’s wrongful discharge of the officer”. “The law does not permit an employer to take advantage of its own wrong and that where ACRs are unavailable for reasons attributable to the employer, an employee’s entitlement must be assessed based on the remaining valid ACRs,” the apex court said.The apex court directed Rajasthan High Court to re-fix Jain’s pay, revise all consequential benefits and release the arrears, calculated in terms of its earlier order granting 50% back wages, within three months. The judgement has also been directed to be circulated to all high courts in the country.
