Madhya Pradesh High Court notice to State govt. over recently notified promotion rules

The Madhya Pradesh High Court has issued a notice to the State Government over the rules for the promotion of government employees notified last month.

A Division Bench of acting Chief Justice Sanjeev Sachdeva and Justice Vinay Saraf on Monday (July 7, 2025) issued the notice while hearing a batch of petitions filed by various government employees who have challenged the constitutional legality of the Madhya Pradesh Public Service Promotion Rules, 2025.

The State Government, on June 17, had approved the rules that had been pending for about nine years, with Chief Minister Mohan Yadav saying that the interests of employees from all categories, including the Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes, were taken care of while framing the rules.

The petitioners also sought an interim stay on the Rules.

However, the Court has sought the government’s response, asking it to clear its stance on the matter before the next hearing, scheduled for July 15.

The court also asked the government to clarify the differences between the fresh rules and the existing rules notified in 2002.

The provisions under the new rules include 20% reservation for the ST and 16% for the SC communities, while the employees from the two communities will also be eligible for promotions based on merit.

Multiple petitions have challenged the provision of reservation in the new rules, citing that the matter of reservation in promotions, made in the 2002 rules, is currently pending in the Supreme Court.

Cabinet Minister Kailash Vijayvargiya, who had briefed the media about the decision taken at a Cabinet meeting, had said that the rules had been made after consultations with the Law Department on various decisions of the Supreme Court and the High Court so that the process of promotions does not face any legal hurdles.