Promotion Process: General Administration Department Begins Move After Legal Opinion

Bhopal (Madhya Pradesh): The nine-year wait of nearly two lakh government employees for promotion may finally end, with the General Administration Department (GAD) deciding to initiate the promotion process under the Madhya Pradesh Public Service Promotion Rules, 2025, based on legal advice from Advocate General Prashant Singh.

The Advocate General had sought an opinion from senior advocate C S Vaidhyanathan on whether the government could proceed with promotions while litigation challenging the rules remains pending.

Following the legal opinion, GAD has written to work-in-charge secretaries of all departments, heads of departments and all collectors, directing them to examine the opinion and take necessary action.

In his opinion, Vaidhyanathan said the High Court has not passed any interim order staying the operation or implementation of the MP Public Service Promotion Rules, 2025. The rules, therefore, remain valid and enforceable.

He cited the Supreme Court case State of Madhya Pradesh vs Vinay Kumar Babele (SLP Civil No. 5868 of 2023) and a series of High Court orders, which held that merely challenging the rules does not prevent the state from convening Departmental Promotion Committees (DPCs) and granting promotions, provided they are made subject to the final outcome of pending litigation and the Supreme Court's final judgment.

According to the opinion, the state has clear judicial backing to proceed with conditional promotions.

It advised the government to take an appropriate decision on convening DPCs under the 2025 rules, while ensuring that any promotions remain subject to the final outcome of pending writ petitions and future orders of the High Court or Supreme Court.

However, Vaidhyanathan cautioned that if the final judgment goes against the government, promotions granted now may have to be reversed, leading to significant administrative disruption.

The government must, therefore, balance this risk against administrative necessity.

Oral assurance not binding

The legal opinion also noted that when the writ petitions challenging the 2025 rules were first heard, the state had given only an oral and informal assurance that promotions would not be made during the proceedings. The assurance was never recorded in a judicial order.

The petitions were reserved for judgment on February 17, 2026, but the verdict could not be delivered after one judge was elevated to the Supreme Court and the other transferred.

The matter will now be heard afresh by a new Bench, making an early decision unlikely and materially changing the circumstances under which the earlier assurance was given.