The Chhattisgarh High Court has dismissed a petition filed by six laboratory technicians working in government colleges who sought the creation of promotional avenues through amendments to the existing service rules. The division bench of Chief Justice Ramesh Sinha and Justice Bibhu Datta Guru delivered the order on 25 November 2025, ruling that courts cannot compel the State to create posts or restructure cadres.
The petitioners, all serving for decades on single-cadre posts, argued that the absence of any promotional hierarchy under the M.P./C.G. Class III Service Recruitment and Promotion (Mahavidyalaya Shakha) Rules of 1974 had resulted in complete career stagnation. They pointed out that while other categories of staff in the Higher Education Department enjoy promotional prospects, laboratory technicians continue to retire on the same post even after more than 40 years of service. They also noted that in states like West Bengal, Jharkhand and Bihar, similarly placed employees (often designated as demonstrators) are eligible for promotion to teaching posts.
The State opposed the petition, submitting that decisions related to the creation or abolition of posts fall strictly within the domain of the executive. It also argued that the petitioners had not suffered any financial loss, as they received higher pay scales at regular intervals in 2001, 2009 and 2019, which is an accepted mechanism to address stagnation.
The bench agreed with the State’s position, citing earlier Supreme Court rulings that creation of posts and amendment of service rules are matters of policy, beyond judicial direction. It noted that while the petitioners had long tenures and no promotional pathway, this alone does not give rise to a legal right to demand structural changes in service rules.
The court observed that unless a rule is unconstitutional on its face, it cannot intervene in such policy matters. Since the petitioners had failed to demonstrate any constitutional infirmity in the 1974 Rules, their request for mandamus could not be entertained. With this reasoning, the bench dismissed the writ petition without costs.
Case Title : OM Prakash Sharma and Others vs State of Chhattisgarh and Others
