Neel Kamal Garg v. State Of Chhattisgarh
Case brief
What is this about?
Chhattisgarh High Court (Bilaspur), WPS-870-2017, single bench of Sanjay K. Agrawal, J., decided 08.05.2025: claim for two advance increments for a Ph.D. rejected because the prior permission dated 10.08.1985 was issued by the Deputy Director (Agriculture), an incompetent authority under the Government circulars requiring permission from the head of office/department (Joint Director per appointment letter dated 05.08.1985; Director (Agriculture) per circular dated 13.07.1972), and because the permission covered LL.B., Post-Graduation in Hindi and Higher Education generally rather than the Ph.D. specifically; writ petition under Article 226 dismissed. Keywords: advance increments, Ph.D., prior permission, competent authority, head of department, government servant higher studies, study leave/permission circulars, Article 226, service matter.
What did the court decide?
The prior permission dated 10.08.1985 was not granted by the competent authority: under the Government circulars, only the head of the office or department (or the appropriate government) may grant prior permission — per the petitioner's letter of appointment dated 05.08.1985 the Joint Director was the head of office/department, and per the circular dated 13th July, 1972 the Director (Agriculture) would be the competent authority — whereas the permission was granted by the Deputy Director (Agriculture).