PANAJI
The High Court of Bombay at Goa on Wednesday issued notices to the Public Works Department (PWD) and gave it three weeks to file replies to two separate petitions. The petitions allege repeated violations of recruitment rules, irregular promotions and long extensions given to senior officers.
The petitions claim that the PWD’s administrative system has broken down. They say promotions are being given based on applications instead of seniority, and that ad hoc appointments are continuing despite earlier court directions.
Filed on January 5, 2026, one petition questions the extension granted to Principal Chief Engineer Uttam Parsekar. It states that he has been allowed to continue in the post on extension for more than three years.
The petition also refers to an earlier case, Writ Petition No. 2614/2025, filed in 2025 over delays and problems in promotions in the PWD. That case was disposed of on October 15, 2025, with the court directing the government to create a system to prevent stagnation in all cadres of the department.
However, the petitioners said the problems continued even after the court order. They pointed out that Assistant Engineer Rashmi Mayenkar was reappointed on November 18, 2025, even though she had reached the date of superannuation on October 31, 2025.
The petitions further state that several cases had to be filed in 2025 due to delayed promotions, delays in payment of salaries, and promotions that did not follow the recruitment rules.
They argue that while senior officers like Parsekar are repeatedly given extensions, many other engineers are working on an ad hoc basis with no clarity about their future or whether rules are being followed.
After taking note of the allegations, the High Court issued notices to the concerned authorities and granted three weeks for them to file their replies.
