IN THE HIGH COURT OF JUDICATURE AT PATNA CWJC No.18580 of 2009 VINOD KUMAR JHA Versus THE STATE OF BIHAR & ORS ----------- 02 09/04/2010 Counter affidavit is stated to have been filed on behalf of respondents on 7.4.2010. Unfortunately the office has not placed it on record. This Court, therefore, requested the counsel for the State to make available his copy of the same for perusal so as not to hold up the proceedings on that ground. The office is directed to trace out the original counter affidavit and place it on record. The petitioner is aggrieved by the order dated 27.10.2009 rejecting his claim to be considered for promotion as Superintendent of Excise from that of an Excise Inspector. Learned counsel for the State does not dispute the fact that the junior of the petitioner has been promoted as such from 13.4.2005. The fact that the State may have granted such promotion belatedly from a retrospective date shall be of no avail to it. A show cause notice is alleged to have been issued to the petitioner on 14.2.2006 to which he replied, when a minor punishment of censure came to be passed on 2 24.1.2007 to be entered in a service records for the year 2006-07. His part against the same resulted in modification of that punishment to stoppage of one increment of non-cumulative effect on 22.10.2008. Learned counsel for the petitioner raising a very short issue of law submits that, if on the date that his junior has been promoted, there were no charges against the petitioner and even no show cause notice had been issued, any development of a show cause notice for an alleged proceeding after the due date from on which he came to be eligible for consideration is of no consequence. He is deemed to a person with clean chart on 13.4.2008, when his junior has been promoted and his case is required to be considered in that light. The counter affidavit does not deal with this aspect at all. The stand of the petitioner is an unexceptionable. The respondents are directed to consider his case for promotion to the post of Superintendent of Excise in light of the aforesaid discussion from the date that his junior has been promoted and pass appropriate orders with consequential benefits within a maximum period of 3 four months from the date of receipt/production of a copy of this order. The writ application stands allowed. P.K. ( Navin Sinha, J.)