Justice Shahid Waheed, Member.--Challenge in this appeal is to Letter No. 276/RHC/C-1 dated 10.6.2013 whereby representation of the appellant for grant of pro forma promotion as District & Sessions Judge was declined.
2. The appellant, Altaf Hussain Altaf, retired District and Sessions Judge, through this appeal under Section 5 of The Punjab Subordinate Judiciary Service Tribunal Act, 1991 has prayed that by setting aside Letter No. 276/RHC/C-1 dated 10.06.2013 this appeal be accepted and the Respondent No. 1 be directed to award him proforma promotion to the post of District and Sessions Judge from the date when his immediate junior was promoted against the said post with all consequential back benefits.
3. This appeal has arisen in the background that in the year 1983 the appellant was 'appointed as Civil Judge. He was promoted to the rank of Senior Civil Judge in the year 1997; and, was further promoted to the post of Additional District & Sessions Judge in the year 1999. The appellant became eligible to be promoted to the post of District & Sessions Judge in the year 2007 but the Provincial Judicial Selection Board did not recommend him for promotion to the said post and resultantly vide Notification No. 317/RHC/AD&SJJ dated 14.12.2007 the juniors to him, i.e, Respondents No. 2 to 7 were promoted. In the next meeting of the Provincial Judicial Selection Board the name of the appellant was again not recommended and his juniors, i.e, Respondents No. 8 to 31 were promoted to the post of District & Sessions Judge vide Notification No. 110/.RHC/AD&SJJ dated 04.05.2009. Feeling anguished, the appellant on 22.5.2009 filed a petition before the Respondent No. 1 with a request for promotion to the rank of District & Sessions Judge with effect from the date when his juniors were promoted. This request was declined vide Letter No. 887/RHC/C-1 dated 20.06.2009. The appellant assailed the said letter before this Tribunal through Service Appeal. No. 04 of 2009. During pendency of the said appeal the appellant was promoted to the post of District & Sessions Judge with effect from 16.09.2010. After assuming the charge of the post of District & Sessions Judge the appellant again on 27.10.2010 filed a petition before the Respondent No. 1 for grant of proforma promotion to the rank of District & Sessions Judge with effect from when his juniors were promoted. This request was declined vide Letter No. 276/RHC/C-1 dated 10.06.2013.
Hence, this appeal.
4. Before proceedings further it is germane to state here that during pendency of this appeal the appellant stood retired on attaining the age of superannuation on 02.05.2014.
5. The question which falls for determination in this appeal is as to whether the appellant is entitled for proforma promotion to the post of District & Sessions Judge when his immediate junior was promoted to the said post with all consequential back benefits. Learned counsel for the appellant has contended that the appellant had more than 25 years unblemished service at his credit; and, that while considering the case of the appellant, his previous record including the performance evaluation reports and the achievements appreciated by his superiors were ignored. ConverselY, the learned counsel for Respondent No. 1 has opposed the afore stated arguments and submitted that the Competent Authority scrutinized the service record and reviewed the performance and reputation of the appellant before declining his request for proforma promotion; and, that the adverse remarks made against him by the Hon'ble Lahore High Court in Criminal Appeal No. 283-J of 2004 titled "Abdul Ghafoor v. The State" was the basis for rejecting the representation of the appellant for grant of proforma promotion. Apropos of above arguments we have examined the record and it evinces that the appellant while working as Additional District & Sessions Judge at Lahore passed a judgment dated 26.04.2004 in a criminal case, i.e., F.I.R. Dated 11.7.2001 recorded on the complaint of one Shehzad Saleem at Police Station Nishtar Colony, Lahore. One of the accused of said case namely Abdul Ghaffar challenged the appellant's judgment dated 26.04.2004 through Criminal Appeal No. 283-J of 2004(titled Abdul Ghaffar v. The State) before the Hon'ble Lahore High Court, Lahore. This appeal was accepted vide judgment dated 29.03.2007 with the following adverse remarks against the appellant: "Before parting from this judgment, I am constrained to observe about the judicial approach of Mian Altaf Hussain Mahar, the then Addl. Sessions Judge, Lahore in this case and the Registrar is directed to place the matter before the competent authority, which may consider to proceed against the said Judicial Officer on the administrative side and that whether he would remain in the judicial service to play with the lives and liberty of the innocent citizens."
' It is an admitted fact that the appellant was deferred for promotion to the post of District & Sessions Judge: firstly, in the year 2007; and, secondly, in the year 2009 on the basis of afore cited adverse remarks recorded against him. It is also conceded before us that the said adverse remarks still exist on record as no Court of competent jurisdiction had expunged them. The effect of the said adverse remarks for grant of proforma promotion came up for consideration before this Tribunal in the appellant's earlier appeal, that is, S.A. No. 04 of 2009 which was dismissed vide judgment dated 27.2.2015 wherein it was held as follows: ' We have given anxious thought to the arguments advanced by the learned counsel for the parties. It is settled principle of law that promotion is neither a vested right nor it can be claimed with retrospective effect. Whenever there is a change of grade or post for the better there is an element of selection involved which is considered for promotion and it is not earned automatically but under an order of the Competent Authority