Seniority Can’t Be Claimed From A Prior Service After Voluntarily Changing Cadres
The Jharkhand Excessive Courtroom rejected police officers’ seniority enchantment, holding that they cannot declare seniority from a prior service as a result of voluntarily altering cadres.
The Courtroom held that because the Appellants voluntarily selected to hitch the police service, they can not declare seniority from the date of their preliminary appointment in a distinct service.
A Division Bench of Justice Sujit Narayan Prasad and Justice Rajesh Kumar famous, “The appellants/writ petitioners have utilized and declared to achieve success however primarily based upon the benefit had been allotted with the Jharkhand Administrative Service and gave their becoming a member of on 12.08.2010. The appellants/writ petitioners had been appointed and began discharging their duties beneath the mentioned cadre”
Senior Advocate Ajit Kumar appeared for the Appellants, whereas Advocate Basic Rajiv Ranjan represented the Respondents.
Temporary Information
In 2007, the Appellants had been chosen for the Jharkhand Administrative Service however most popular the Police Service. After six Dy.S.P. posts grew to become vacant, the State Authorities invited choices from candidates with police choice, main appellants to hitch the Jharkhand Police Service in 2012. Their subsequent declare for seniority from their preliminary 2010 appointment date within the Administrative Service was rejected.
Courtroom’s Reasoning
The Courtroom referred to Round No. 15784 dated August 26, 1972, which states that if an officer is transferred from one service to a different “on his personal request, the service handed by him on earlier put up is not going to be reckoned for the aim of seniority“. Nevertheless, “if such switch is in accordance with the coverage choice taken by the Authorities, then the providers rendered by him on the earlier put up will probably be counted for seniority“.
The Courtroom concluded that the appellants’ case was a “change within the service on their very own choice i.e., from Jharkhand Administrative Service to Jharkhand Police Service within the capability of Dy.S.P.”. It held that “it can’t be mentioned that it was a coverage choice by which appellants had been sure to hitch police service subsequently declare of the appellants doesn’t come throughout the horizon of the Round of 1972 since they picked willingly to shift their service as a result of vacancies existed however proper doesn’t accrue of their favour for claiming their seniority from the date of preliminary appointment“.
The Bench referred the precedent of the Supreme Courtroom in State of Bihar v. Arbind Jee and Ganga Vishan Gujrati reiterating the precept that “retrospective seniority can’t be granted to an worker from a date when the worker was not borne on a cadre“. It was additional acknowledged that “seniority amongst members of the identical grade needs to be counted from the date of preliminary entry into the grade“.
The Courtroom was of the “thought of view that since realized Single Decide has meticulously examined the aforesaid subject by taking into consideration the settled place of regulation that common service can’t be reckoned from a date when the worker was not even borne within the service and seniority amongst members needs to be counted from the date of preliminary entry into the mentioned service, requires no interference by this Courtroom“.
Consequently, the Courtroom ordered, “Accordingly, this Courtroom is of the view that the moment enchantment lacks benefit and as such, stands dismissed”
Accordingly, the Excessive Courtroom dismissed the Enchantment.
Trigger Title: Binod Kumar Mahto & Ors. v. The State of Jharkhand & Ors. (Impartial Quotation: 2025:JHHC:14955-DB)
Look:
Appellants: Senior Advocate Ajit Kumar; Advocate Aprajita Bhardwaj
Respondents: Advocate Basic Rajiv Ranjan; AC Mohan Kr. Dubey and Shray Mishra; Advocates Rahul Kumar, Kumar Vaibhav, Durgesh Agarwal, Richa Lal, Saurav Arun, Ayushi, Shailesh Kr. Singh and Abhijeet Kumar
