In Jyostnamayee Mishra v. State of Odisha (2025 INSC 87), the Supreme Court held that no promotion can be claimed to a post reserved solely for direct recruitment under statutory rules. Rejecting a Peon’s claim for appointment as a Tracer, it said bypassing open selection would violate Article 16 and transparency in public jobs. The Court stressed that internal circulars can’t replace public advertisements and that “negative equality” under Article 14 doesn’t justify repeating past illegal promotions.
