In the matter of Direct Recruit Class II Engineering Officers’ Association v. State of Maharashtra & Ors.1, the High Court was of the opinion that an ad hoc appointee shall be entitled to count the entire service for seniority from the date of ad hoc appointment to the date of regularisation if he was in continuous service, without any interruption, till the date of his regularisation. The High Court observed that although the initial appointments of the Writ Petitioners were not in accordance with the procedure prescribed for making appointment, they cannot be deprived of the benefit of the service rendered by them on ad hoc basis for the purpose of seniority and promotion. Accordingly, the High Court by its judgment dated 07.09.2011 allowed the Writ Petition Nos.187 of 2010, 188 of 2010 and 220 of 2010. Later, Writ Petition No.58 of 2011 on 30.11.2011 was disposed of in terms of the judgment in Writ Petition No187 of 2010 and other Writ Petitions.
It was contended on behalf of the promotees that the judgment of the High Court dated 07.09.2011 directing the benefit of the ad hoc service to be given to the promotees does not call for interference. They relied upon the proviso to sub-rule (4) of Rule 24 of the 2005 Rules to submit that they have a right to claim that the period of continuous officiation prior to the dates of their regular appointment should be counted for seniority. It was argued that the initial promotion on ad hoc basis in the year 2004 was after a process of selection. They were continuously discharging their duties as Deputy Collectors till they were selected by the Public Service Commission and regularly appointed in the year 2007. If their service from 2004 is treated as regular, the direct recruits who were appointed in 2005 cannot be shown as seniors to them in the seniority list of Deputy Collectors. The grievance raised by them regarding the Office Memorandum that was issued by the Government of Uttarakhand on 21.10.2015 is that the Deputy Collectors who were allotted to the State of Uttarakhand but continued to work in the State of Uttar Pradesh were shown to have occupied the post of Deputy Collectors in the promotee quota. According to them, some of the Deputy Collectors who continued to work in the State of Uttar Pradesh have retired on attaining the age of superannuation. For all practical purposes including the payment of pension, they cannot be treated to have held a civil post in the State of Uttarakhand. Inclusion of their names in the seniority list of Deputy Collectors has been done only to deprive the promotees the legitimate seniority to which they were entitled. The implementation of the judgments dated 30.11.2011 in Writ Petition No.58 of 2011 and 07.09.2011 in Writ Petition Nos.187 of 2010, 188 of 2010, 220 of 2010 and the deletion of those Deputy Collectors who never worked in the State of Uttarakhand from the promotee quota would result in the promotees being accorded their rightful place in the seniority list.
In the matter of State of West Bengal & Ors. v. Aghore Nath Dey & Ors. It was held as follows:
“22. There can be no doubt that these two conclusions have to be read harmoniously, and conclusion (B) cannot cover cases which are expressly excluded by conclusion (A). We may, therefore, first refer to conclusion (A). It is clear from conclusion (A) that to enable seniority to be counted from the date of initial appointment and not according to the date of confirmation, the incumbent of the post has to be initially appointed ‘according to rules’. The corollary set out in conclusion (A), then is, that ‘where the initial appointment is only ad hoc and not according to rules and made as a stopgap arrangement, the officiation in such posts cannot be taken into account for considering the seniority’. Thus, the corollary in conclusion (A) expressly excludes the category of cases where the initial appointment is only ad hoc and not according to rules, being made only as a stopgap arrangement. The case of the writ petitioners squarely falls within this corollary in conclusion (A), which says that the officiation in such posts cannot be taken into account for counting the seniority.
In the matter of Vinod Giri Goswami & Ors vsthe state of Uttrakhand in Civil Appeal No. 1606 of 2020, The Hon’ble Supreme Court held as under :-
” In view of our conclusion that the promotees are not entitled to count their ad hoc service for the purpose of computing their seniority. For the aforementioned reasons, the Civil Appeal @ S.L.P. (Civil) No.2779 of 2012, Civil Appeal @ S.L.P. (Civil) Nos.6847– 6848 of 2012, Civil Appeal @ S.L.P. (Civil) Nos.9885– 9886 of 2012, Civil Appeal @ S.L.P. (Civil) Nos.9910– 9911 of 2012, Civil Appeal @ S.L.P. (Civil) Nos.33762– 33763 of 2012, Civil Appeal @ S.L.P. (Civil) Nos.33750– 33751 of 2012, Civil Appeal @ S.L.P. (Civil) Nos.33759– 33760 of 2012 are allowed and the Civil Appeal @ S.L.P. (Civil) No.18604 of 2019 is dismissed.”
