Chandigarh, Oct 18: The Central Administrative Tribunal (CAT) has directed the Chandigarh administration to finalise and notify the long-pending UT Chandigarh Health Service Rules within 12 weeks and establish a time-bound promotional pathway for senior doctors serving under the UT cadre.
Issuing a detailed order, the tribunal also set aside the appointment of Dr. Sushil Kumar Mahi as joint principal medical officer-cum-medical superintendent, instructing the administration to re-advertise the post. It further said that if the post is again filled through deputation, the UT must clearly record reasons for overlooking eligible local officers.
The order came in response to a plea by Dr. Sadbhavna Pandit, 59, a senior medical officer (SMO) from Sector 33-C, who accused the administration of failing to comply with a 2015 tribunal directive that had recommended the creation of a promotional structure for doctors in the UT Health Department.
Dr. Pandit, appointed through the Union Public Service Commission (UPSC) in 2002, is the only direct-recruit SMO among the 28 sanctioned posts under the Chandigarh Administration Medical Posts Group A Recruitment Rules, 2001, and is currently the senior-most SMO in the UT.
“When my post was created, the department had noted there was no promotional avenue from the SMO position,” Dr. Pandit stated in her petition. A proposal made on October 7, 2015, to create a post of deputy director—meant to be filled through promotion—was never implemented, she added.
Despite the 2015 order, the administration did not amend the recruitment rules for nearly a decade. Dr. Pandit said she submitted a fresh representation on January 25, 2024, urging action, but received no response.
The dispute resurfaced in February this year after the repatriation of Dr. Varinder Nagpal, a deputationist from Haryana serving as medical superintendent-cum-joint principal medical officer. Following his return to his parent cadre on February 6, the charge was briefly given to Dr. Pandit on February 7, only to be withdrawn a day later. Soon after, on February 12, the UT appointed Dr. Mahi to the same post on deputation, displacing her.
Dr. Pandit argued that since 2015, senior positions—including medical superintendent-cum-joint principal medical officer and principal medical officer-cum-director health services—had repeatedly been filled by deputationists instead of eligible UT cadre doctors.
In its reply, the UT administration denied wrongdoing, claiming that Dr. Pandit had “suppressed material facts” and that there was “no valid cause of action” to sustain her plea. Officials said a committee had been formed in February 2016 to review the Chandigarh Administration Medical Posts (Group A) Recruitment Rules, 1983, and had proposed either open selection or a composite method for key posts. They also noted that Dr. Pandit had not raised objections when the draft recruitment rules were circulated.
However, the tribunal found that the administration had failed to act on its 2015 binding directions despite “repeated follow-ups through official meetings, communications, and committee deliberations.” It said the prolonged inaction amounted to “non-compliance with judicial orders.”
Regarding Dr. Mahi’s deputation, the tribunal held that displacing Dr. Pandit without assessing her eligibility “offends principles of fairness and administrative propriety.” The February 12 order appointing Dr. Mahi was set aside to the extent that it displaced the applicant.
The tribunal directed the UT to reconsider the appointment “strictly in accordance with the applicable recruitment rules” and to justify in writing any future decision to fill the post by deputation.
Concluding its order, the tribunal stated: “The Chandigarh Administration shall finalise and notify the UT Chandigarh Health Service Rules and ensure a time-bound promotional structure from senior medical officer to chief or principal medical officer within twelve weeks.”
