News Citation : 2026 LN (HC) 56
Bilaspur, January 15, 2026 : The High Court of Chhattisgarh at Bilaspur has ruled in favour of an Assistant District Public Prosecution Officer who was denied confirmation and service benefits for years despite completing probation and receiving a formal recommendation for confirmation. In a detailed judgment delivered on January 15, 2026, Justice Amitendra Kishore Prasad set aside a series of departmental orders and directed the state to confirm the officer’s service retrospectively and release all consequential benefits.
The case was filed by Smt. Anju Gupta, who was selected through the Chhattisgarh Public Service Commission and appointed as Assistant District Public Prosecution Officer in December 2010. She successfully completed her two-year probation in December 2012, and her service record during this period was found to be satisfactory and unblemished. In March 2015, the Directorate of Public Prosecution itself recommended her confirmation. Despite this, her services were never formally confirmed.
Instead, the department issued multiple orders between 2019 and 2022 denying her confirmation, deleting her name from the list of confirmed officers, and withholding increments. The authorities justified their actions by citing the pendency and outcome of a departmental inquiry initiated years after the probation period, as well as the alleged non-availability of vacant posts.
After examining the record, the court found that the probation period had never been legally extended and that no adverse material existed relating to her performance during probation. The judge held that a departmental inquiry initiated long after the completion of probation could not be used to retrospectively deny confirmation when the right to be considered for confirmation had already accrued.
The court was particularly critical of the manner in which the authorities first recommended and acted upon her confirmation, and later reversed course without issuing any notice or providing an opportunity of hearing. Such actions, the court observed, carried serious civil consequences including loss of increments, permanency and service continuity, and therefore violated the principles of natural justice.
Rejecting the state’s argument of delay and laches, the court noted that the officer had been continuously pursuing her grievance through earlier writ and contempt proceedings, and that denial of increments and permanent status constituted a continuing wrong. The plea of non-availability of posts was also found untenable, especially when confirmations had been made in the cadre from time to time.
Allowing the writ petition, the High Court quashed the impugned orders and directed the respondents to treat the petitioner as confirmed on the post of Assistant District Public Prosecution Officer with effect from March 17, 2015, or any earlier admissible date under the rules. The state has also been directed to grant all consequential benefits, including annual increments, pay fixation and continuity of service.
The judgment reinforces settled service law principles that confirmation cannot be withheld indefinitely after successful completion of probation, and that administrative actions affecting service rights must strictly comply with fairness and natural justice.
Case Reference : WPS No. 2035 of 2023, Anju Gupta vs. State of Chhattisgarh and Others; Counsels: for the Petitioner, Mr. Aman Tamboli, Advocate; for the Respondents/State, Mr. Hariom Rai, Panel Lawyer.