The Tripura High Court has rejected a police inspector’s plea for promotion to Grade-II of the Tripura Police Service (TPS), holding that a pending departmental inquiry may stand in the way of promotion even when an earlier disciplinary penalty has been set aside.
Justice Biswajit Palit dismissed the writ petition filed by police inspector Sursen Tripura, who sought retrospective promotion along with all consequential service benefits after several of his juniors were promoted to higher posts in 2021 and 2023.
The petitioner had earlier faced disciplinary action, resulting in the withholding of one increment without cumulative effect. However, the High Court set aside that penalty through an order dated September 6, 2024, and directed the authorities to restore the benefits he would have received had the punishment not been imposed.
Despite the earlier relief, the inspector was not promoted. The authorities cited a separate departmental inquiry initiated against him on January 24, 2024, over allegations of sexual harassment, which remained pending at the time of consideration.
Challenging the denial of promotion, Sursen Tripura approached the High Court again, seeking a direction for promotion with retrospective effect and the associated benefits.
While examining the matter, the court observed that the quashing of the earlier disciplinary penalty did not automatically remove the impediment arising from the subsequent departmental proceedings. As the inquiry remained unresolved, the court found no basis to direct the authorities to convene a fresh Departmental Promotion Committee (DPC) meeting or grant the requested promotion at that stage.
The court, however, directed the concerned authorities to complete the departmental inquiry within six months. It further stated that if the inquiry was not concluded within the stipulated period, the departmental proceedings would lapse.
Following the conclusion of the inquiry, the petitioner would be at liberty to approach the competent authority afresh for consideration of his promotion claim, in accordance with the court’s directions.
The judgment was delivered on September 24, 2026, clarifying that the outcome of an earlier disciplinary challenge does not, by itself, settle a promotion claim when separate departmental proceedings remain pending.
