January 1 To Be Approved Service Date For Delhi, Andaman Civil & Police Service Officers Till Fresh Rules Are Framed: Delhi High Court
The Delhi High Court has directed that until fresh rules are framed, January 01 following the year of examination will be treated as the crucial date for determining “approved service” of officers belonging to the Delhi, Andaman and Nicobar Islands Police Service (DANIPS) and Delhi, Andaman and Nicobar Islands Civil Service (DANICS). [2026 LiveLaw (Del) 601]A division bench comprising...
The Delhi High Court has directed that until fresh rules are framed, January 01 following the year of examination will be treated as the crucial date for determining “approved service” of officers belonging to the Delhi, Andaman and Nicobar Islands Police Service (DANIPS) and Delhi, Andaman and Nicobar Islands Civil Service (DANICS). [2026 LiveLaw (Del) 601]
A division bench comprising Justice Anil Kshetarpal and Justice Amit Mahajan passed the direction while deciding two petitions filed by the Union Government challenging orders passed by the Central Administrative Tribunal (CAT) that had set aside the DANIPS (Amendment) Rules, 2022 and DANICS (Amendment) Rules, 2022.
The Tribunal had directed that the relevant rules be amended and January 01, following the year of examination, be considered as the crucial date for determining 'approved service'.
The Government was aggrieved by quashing of the amendments which fixed July 01 as both the date of reckoning of 'approved service' and the crucial date for promotion under the DANIPS Rules, 2003 as well as the DANICS Rules, 2003.
Earlier, in terms of Rule 2(e) of the DANIPS Rules, 2003, the 'approved service' for DANIPS commenced from July 01 of the year following the Civil Services Examination. However, under Note of Schedule III, the crucial date for determining eligibility for promotion was fixed as January 01 of the year in which the vacancy has occurred. The said mismatch caused avoidable delays in promotion of officers.
It was the Central Government's case that the 2022 amendments merely sought to remove the delay by aligning both dates to July 01 and that courts should not substitute administrative policy choices with their own views.
It was also contended that granting January 01 as the reckoning date could provide DANIPS/DANICS officers with unintended advantages over other services.
Disposing of the pleas, the Court said that if the 'approved service' is reckoned from 1st of July, the DANICS/DANIPS will suffer a six-month reduction as compared to AFHQCS.
It added that while the quashed amendments solved the issue of delay in promotions of DANIPS/DANICS, however, the same does not address the issue of the deficit in their service length as against AFHQCS or the issue of their delayed eligibility as well as adverse seniority in IAS/IPS vis-à-vis contemporaries.
“Fixation of crucial date for reckoning 'approved service' as 1st of July will not eliminate discriminatory treatment and it has been rightly noted by the learned Tribunal that the Amendments entrench upon the disparity identified in the first round of litigation and the same is violative of Article 14 of the Constitution of India,” the Court said.
It added: “Once such a benefit of notional service is being extended in promotion to AFHQCS (another Group 'B' service), the argument of the Petitioner that fixation of 1st of January as the date of reckoning of approved service would confer undue advantage on the DANICS/DANIPS fails. It is evident that the Amendments had the effect of overriding the observations made by the Tribunal in the first round without curing the underlined deficiencies.”
However, the Bench added that it would not be appropriate to sustain the effective direction of the Tribunal to amend the relevant rules by fixing 1st January following the year of examination as the crucial date for determining approved service.
While upholding the quashing of the amendment notifications, the Court held that the Tribunal had exceeded its jurisdiction in directing authorities to amend the rules in a specific manner.
“Thus, MHA as well as DoPT are directed to carry out a reasoned exercise and stipulate a mechanism which addresses the issues underlined by this Court as well as the Tribunal without causing any consequent prejudice to the prospects of DANIPS/DANICS. This exercise shall preferably be carried out within a period of two months from date,” the Court directed.
“Till such amendments are passed in accordance with law, as in the case of AFHQCS, it is directed that 1st January following the year of examination shall be treated as the crucial date for determining approved service of DANIPS/ DANICS,” it ordered.
Title: UNION OF INDIA v. SANJEEV KUMAR YADAV AND ANR and other connected matter
Citation: 2026 LiveLaw (Del) 601