Agartala: The Tripura High Court’s division bench has struck down the promotion of 22 Tripura Police Service (TPS) Grade-II officers and directed that they be reverted to their original rank of inspector, overturning a previous order issued by a single-judge bench.
The ruling follows a writ petition filed by 17 inspectors from the Scheduled Tribe and Scheduled Caste categories, who argued that they were unfairly denied promotion because the 22 officers—already above the maximum eligible age—had been elevated in violation of Tripura Public Service Commission (TPSC) norms.
Under existing TPSC guidelines, officers aged 55 and above cannot be considered for promotion to the next higher post.
The controversy began when the 22 inspectors approached the High Court seeking one-time age relaxation after promotions in the state remained stalled for years.
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In January 2023, a single bench allowed their plea, prompting the state government to promote all 22 officers to TPS Grade-II.
Challenging this order, the petitioners led by Jatindra Das argued that the promotions granted to overage officers had blocked opportunities for eligible candidates.
After hearing the case, Chief Justice MS Ramchandra Rao on Wednesday set aside the earlier ruling and instructed the state to restore the officers to their original positions.
Senior lawyer Sankar Lodh, who represented the petitioners, said the division bench not only quashed the single bench’s directive but also ordered the government to expedite filling TPS Grade-II vacancies strictly from among eligible officers.
