The Jharkhand High Court has ruled that benefits under the Dynamic Assured Career Progression (DACP) Scheme cannot be limited only to officers who have approached the court through litigation. The Court held that once an entitlement under a service-related policy is legally recognised, it must be uniformly extended to all similarly situated individuals, and the State cannot adopt a selective approach based on whether or not an employee has initiated legal proceedings. The judgment reinforces the constitutional principle of equality before the law and the prohibition of arbitrary discrimination by the State.
The case arose from a dispute involving medical officers who were denied DACP benefits by the State government. The DACP Scheme, intended to provide time-bound promotions and pay scale advancements to medical professionals, had been implemented in the State following the central government model. However, the State government had altered the cut-off date for implementation, resulting in certain officers being excluded from its benefits. A group of affected officers challenged this decision in court, and previous judgments had directed the State to extend DACP benefits from April 5, 2002. Despite this, the government confined the benefit only to those officers who had individually filed petitions and obtained favourable orders.
The petitioners in the present case argued that such a selective grant of benefits violated Article 14 of the Constitution, which guarantees equality before the law. They contended that all officers belonging to the same cadre and performing identical duties were entitled to equal treatment under the DACP Scheme. The State, however, maintained that the benefits could not be automatically extended to non-litigant officers unless they also sought judicial intervention.
The Court categorically rejected the State’s argument, observing that once a court has declared a particular benefit or entitlement as lawful, the same must be extended to all similarly situated employees. The bench noted that restricting benefits only to those who approached the court would amount to penalising employees who trusted the administration to act fairly and lawfully. It also emphasised that the State, as a model employer, has a duty to ensure equitable treatment and cannot create artificial distinctions among employees belonging to the same category.
Citing established legal precedents, the Court reiterated that once a principle of law has been settled, it cannot be confined to the specific litigants in whose favour the ruling was made. The government, it said, must apply the same rule uniformly to all eligible individuals without requiring further litigation. The bench described the State’s selective implementation of DACP as “arbitrary and unconstitutional,” as it undermined the spirit of the policy and eroded public trust in fair governance.
Accordingly, the High Court directed the Jharkhand government to extend DACP benefits and all consequential financial advantages to all eligible medical officers with effect from the originally recognised date, April 5, 2002. The Court also ordered the State to complete this exercise within a stipulated timeframe and ensure that no eligible officer is denied benefits on the ground of not having filed a petition.
This ruling serves as a significant reaffirmation of administrative fairness and the equality mandate under Article 14. It clarifies that service benefits determined through judicial interpretation must be implemented comprehensively, ensuring that justice does not remain confined to individual litigants but is applied uniformly to all deserving members of a class.
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