NT Reporter
Panaji
The High Court of Bombay at Goa has strongly criticised the state government’s decision to grant repeated service extensions to a superannuated officer, observing that merit alone cannot justify indefinite continuation in
public service.
The Court was hearing a petition filed by Ranjan R Hinde challenging the extension granted to Liladhar B Desai as Deputy Director at the Directorate of Planning, Statistics
and Evaluation.
In its order dated September 18, the Court noted that granting extensions to officers who have already attained the age of superannuation deprives younger and eligible candidates of rightful opportunities for promotion or selection.
“We clearly deprecate the approach of granting an extension to a person who has already attained the age of superannuation. Such an action results in denial of opportunities to new and young entrants, who have legitimate expectations to be considered for the post,” the Court said.
Desai had been granted an extension twice, most recently through an order dated August 29, 2025. The state government defended the decision, citing Desai’s good credentials and terming him an “asset to
the Department”.
However, the Court disagreed with this justification. “We cannot agree that because he is good, he must be indefinitely continued,” the bench observed.
The petitioner, Hinde, had sought a direction to convene a Departmental Promotion Committee (DPC) within a specified time frame so that his candidature could be
duly considered.
In response, the Court has now directed the Under Secretary (Personnel) from the Department of Personnel to immediately initiate the process of conducting a DPC through the Goa Public Service
Commission (GPSC).
The Court further directed that the Department must forward the requisition to the GPSC within
one week.
Following this, the GPSC has been instructed to convene the DPC and complete the selection process for the post of Deputy Director within four weeks.
The Court has made it clear that the entire procedure must be completed by or before November 15, 2025, and that no further extension shall be granted to respondent Liladhar Desai. “Needless to say, if the process is not completed for any reason, we expect the rule of seniority to be followed from amongst those eligible for promotion,” the order concluded.
