NHPC Ltd Promotion Policy Writ Dismissed

Authority: High Court of Punjab & Haryana at Chandigarh

Order Date: 07 August 2026

Parties: Petitioners – Vasant Hurmade and others; Respondents – NHPC Ltd and others.
Petition Number: CWP No. 22923‑2026 (O&M).
Legal Basis: Writ petition filed under Article 226 of the Constitution of India.
Reliefs Sought:
Prayer A: Writ of Certiorari against the amended Clause 6.2 of NHPC’s Promotion Policy dated 14‑02‑2025, alleging arbitrary discretion by the CMD in bifurcating the Executive Director (Grade E9) post without a prescribed engineering‑discipline ratio.
Prayer B: Writ of Certiorari against a circular dated 20‑07‑2026, contending that petitioners were not shortlisted for interviews for the Executive Director post while their juniors were.
Prayer C: Writ of Mandamus directing the Board to lay down an appropriate discipline‑ratio for the Executive Director post.
Counsel: Petitioners – Mr. Sreenath A. Khemka (Advocate); Respondents – Mr. Satyapal Jain, Addl. Solicitor General, assisted by Mr. Sukhandeep Singh (Advocate for NHPC), Ms. Archana Vashishth (Advocate for respondent No. 3), and Mr. Gaurav Pathak (Advocate for respondent No. 3).
Bench: Hon’ble Mrs. Justice Sudepti Sharma.

The Court observed that the petition concerning prayer B (interview short‑listing) had become infructuous and therefore dismissed it.
The petitioners sought to file a fresh writ for prayers A and C; however, the Court dismissed the present petition as withdrawn with liberty to file a fresh petition, effectively rejecting the current reliefs.
No substantive examination of the merits of Clause 6.2 or the circular was undertaken, as the petition was dismissed on procedural grounds.

The writ petition is dismissed in its entirety: prayer B dismissed as infructuous; prayers A and C dismissed as withdrawn.
All pending applications, if any, are also disposed of.
No further directions or orders were issued against NHPC Ltd.

Topics: Promotion Policy, Court Decision