Punjab and Haryana High Court questions promotion for excelling in tug of war : The Tribune India

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Punjab and Haryana High Court questions promotion for excelling in tug of war

Saurabh Malik

Tribune News Service

Chandigarh, July 11

In a tug of war with his employer, Jaswinder Singh could not pull the court’s opinion towards his side. The Mandi Board employee scored an own goal after his plea for promotion was not only turned down by the Punjab and Haryana High Court, but liberty was also granted to the authorities concerned to find out how the picnic game was used to provide promotion and other benefits to him.

Claiming to be the former champion of the team game, Jaswinder Singh had moved the High Court seeking promotion as District Mandi Officer. Justice Arun Monga’s Bench was told that the petitioner initially joined as a clerk in August 1989, but was promoted as a junior assistant in April 2001, and a senior assistant in August 2008.

His post was upgraded as Secretary, Market Committee, in January 2009, after recognising his achievement in ‘tug of war’. The Bench was told that he was a member of the team which secured first position in the 6th Senior Federation Cup National Championship. Thereafter, he was promoted as Deputy District Mandi Officer.

Justice Monga asserted that the petitioner was literally in tug of war with his employer. After, perhaps, running out of luck “of conniving in past with certain board officials to get benefit of so-called team sport,” he approached the High Court.

The sport concededly was not even based on individual feat/prowess. “What happened to the other team members, if they too were government employees? Did they also get out-of-turn promotion like the petitioner? Be that as it may, the petitioner’s speculative confidence is that since earlier too he was given the benefit of team performance in the so-called sport of tug of war, why not now?”

Referring to the state government’s unequivocal stand that ‘tug of war’ was not a recognised sport, Justice Monga added there was no room for interference and the petitioner’s claim for promotion on the basis of previous upgradation and promotion by the virtue of his sports achievement did not survive any more.