AD HOC PROMOTIONS

Ad hoc appointments are mainly done when there is any sort of emergency in the

organization. The candidates are appointed on the terms and conditions and the procedures of

the ad hoc appointment laid down by the organization in its policy framework. In this type of

appointment, the organization does not indulge itself in the due process of recruitment and

selection. However, if a candidate has been selected on an ad hoc basis then that candidate

has the privilege to appear in the due process of recruitment and selection and if he gets

selected in the process then the candidate can enjoy the status of a permanent employ of the

organization and his services will be confirmed for that job. The Supreme Court in the case of

G. Baskar v. State of Tamil Nadu1, has held that “the candidates who had also put in

considerable service as ad hoc appointees on consolidated pay, were entitled to be regularized

in the said post.”

Therefore, it is important that before the appointment of new candidates in the organization

the ad hoc employees have to be considered for regular appointment.

Furthermore, if the candidate is an ad hoc employ of the organization then he does not have

any entitlement over the job although he is entitled to be paid by the organization for the

services he is rendering. Also, ad hoc process is considered as a back door process but the

organization has an obligation to treat the candidate at par with the other employees of the

organization.

The major benefits that a candidate derives from the ad hoc appointment is the absorption in

the existing job or regularization consequent to the due process of recruitment and selection.

This will not be treated as promotion.

1
G. Baskar v. State of Tamil Nadu 2017 SCC OnLine Mad 10804.
Now, let’s talk about what happens to the promotion of the employees who are selected on

the ad hoc basis.

It has been mandated by the government that the ministries/departments are required to

ensure that all appointments made on an ad hoc basis are limited to posts which cannot be

kept vacant until regular candidates become available. It has been emphasized that ad hoc

promotions should be made only in rare cases and in real exigency of work. It has been

further said that the ad hoc promotions shall only be kept as a last resort.

Another reason for making ad hoc promotions is that the seniority position of the officer

holding the post in the feeder grade is disputed. In all such cases regular review by

Departmental Promotion Committee may be held based on the existing seniority list. In case

such disputes are pending before a Court/Tribunal, unless there is an injunction/ stay order

against making regular promotions, the appointing authority may convene the Departmental

Promotion Committee and make promotions on the basis of the existing seniority list.

However, it should be kept in mind that these promotions are subject to the final decisions of

the Court/ Tribunal. Subsequently, after the decision has become available then the necessary

adjustments may be made in the promotion of the officers. In case any of the officers

provisionally promoted do not figure in the list of approved by the Departmental Promotion

Committee, they may be reverted to the posts held by them earlier.

Furthermore, ad hoc promotions are often challenged in the court of law on various

grounds. Employees often move the court in order to regularize their job though they are

well aware of the fact that they had been promoted on an ad hoc basis which is for a

temporary period of six months in most cases. This increases a lot of work load of the courts

also. They are many cases of the Supreme Court wherein it has talked about the

regularization of employees. In the case of State of Haryana and others v. Piara Singh and

others,2 the Supreme Court observed that direction to regularize ad hoc appointments, work
2
State of Haryana and others v. Piara Singh and others 1992 SC 2130.

2
charged employees would only result in encouraging of unhealthy practice of back door entry

– what cannot be done directly can not be allowed to be done in such indirect manner.

Also, whether the ad hoc period shall be considered in determining seniority or not. This is

the problem which often arises in the organizations and they move the court for the same. In

the case of Sanjay Pandey v. Union of India,3 it was held that the ad hoc time period shall not

be counted to determine the seniority of the employee. Otherwise other employees, despite

being senior to the ad hoc employees will eventually become their junior in the organization

which is unfair and as a result of this they move the court.

Ad hoc promotions are also challenged by other employees of the organization where the

person has been promoted on the basis other than the seniority. For example, nepotism. This

often happens in the organizations. Here, the employees think that they have been wronged

and they should have been promoted first since they have served the organization for a longer

point of time and deserve to be promoted before other employees of the organization.

The Central Secretariat Service rules provide that if any person is eligible to be considered

for the promotion to the Selection Grade, he may be appointed to officiate in an ad hoc

vacancy for a period not exceeding three months. Provided that the aforesaid period of three

months, may in exceptional cases or with the approval of the Department of Personnel and

Training in the Ministry of Personnel, Public Grievances, and Pensions be extended to six

months in public interest.

The rules clearly state that the said person will be promoted on an ad hoc basis for a period of

three months and not more than that except in certain situations of public interest. Here, the

HR manager must have made this decision so that the post does not remain vacant and is not

abolished in the next calendar year.

There are various organizations in which ad hoc promotion does not take place. There is no

policy of ad hoc promotion in the organization. Food Corporation of India is one such
3
Sanjay Pandey v. Union of India 2012 SCC 2564.

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example. Here, if a post remains vacant even after the due process of promotion and the right

candidate has not been found then any vacancy or vacancies arising during a calendar year

reserved for promotion or direct recruitment, as the case may be, such vacancy or vacancies

shall be carried over to the subsequent calendar year.

Therefore, to conclude, ad hoc promotions are not considered very welcoming by the

organizations nor their employees. They shall only be resorted to as a last resort as it is a back

door entry process and the person has not secured the job by following due process of the

recruitment and selection of the organization. Though the organization treats these employees

at par with the permanent employees still it is not completely fair on the part of the

permanent employees.