The Punjab government’s move to elevate 32 of its non-state civil services officers (Class I gazetted) into the IAS has been stalled by the Punjab and Haryana High Court. A division bench comprising Justice Anupinder Singh Grewal and Justice Deepak Manchanda passed these orders.

The Punjab Civil Services Executive Branch Officers Association had moved the court alleging non-compliance with rules and the alleged recommendation of a few influential persons by the Punjab govt.

The petition says that the promotion of non-state civil services officers to the post of Punjab cadre of IAS under Rule 8(2) of the Indian Administrative Service (Recruitment) Rules, 1954, and the Indian Administrative Service (Appointment by Selection) Regulations, 1997, can be made only under special circumstances and only after evaluating the outstanding merit and ability of the eligible officers.

The Punjab govt had issued a circular on March 3, 2025, inviting applications from group A (class I) gazetted officers, but the petitioner says that the circular was not published in any newspaper.

The petition claimed that the circular was not brought to the notice of all other eligible Group A (Class I) gazetted officers in Punjab, and only the names of 32 officers were shortlisted by the screening committee.

Further, the petitioner argued that the officers recommended for promotion to the IAS cadre by the screening committee are primarily from two departments, water supply and sanitation department and excise and taxation department.

The court was told that the state govt did not undertake any exercise to evaluate the outstanding merit and ability of the candidates before recommending their names to the UPSC for their selection to the IAS. The HC was also informed that rules guiding the appointments by promotion say that it should not be more than 15% of the posts available for recruitment to IAS in a calendar year.

Against this background, the petitioner claimed that in the calendar year 2024-25, only eight posts of IAS were available, and therefore, only one appointment could be made through the aforementioned method, rather than 32.

The counsel for the govt submitted that the notice inviting applications was uploaded on the official website of the state govt.

The state govt has been asked to file its reply by Jan 22, 2026.