Retrospective seniority rules cannot cut down accrued service rights of substantively appointed officers in temporary cadre posts.

Retrospective amendments to service rules may be made under Article 309, but they cannot be arbitrary, discriminatory, or divest vested seniority rights protected by Articles 14 and 16. The SC held that officers substantively appointed to temporary cadre posts became members of the service, so their seniority had to run from the date of such membership and not from a later permanent vacancy. Purely ad hoc, officiating, or stop-gap service did not count towards seniority unless the appointment was regularised and membership of the service was acquired. The impugned seniority list and offending amendments were set aside, and fresh seniority was to be prepared on substantive membership.

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Issues: (i) Whether the retrospective amendments to the service rules, and the revised quota and seniority scheme, were valid; (ii) whether temporary Assistant Engineers appointed in substantive capacity in temporary posts were entitled to have their seniority reckoned from the date they became members of the service; (iii) whether purely ad hoc or officiating service could be counted for seniority.

Issue (i): Whether the retrospective amendments to the service rules, and the revised quota and seniority scheme, were valid.

Analysis: Rules made under the proviso to Article 309 of the Constitution of India may be amended retrospectively, but such amendments cannot be arbitrary, unreasonable, or discriminatory, and cannot take away vested rights protected by Articles 14 and 16 of the Constitution of India. An executive memorandum cannot override statutory rules. The amended provisions altered the position of existing members of the service by postponing seniority to appointment in a permanent vacancy and by giving precedence to later direct recruits, thereby operating unfairly against those already substantively appointed in temporary posts.

Conclusion: The retrospective operation of the impugned amendments was invalid to the extent it affected inter se seniority of existing substantive temporary appointees, and the affected provisions were quashed.

Issue (ii): Whether temporary Assistant Engineers appointed in substantive capacity in temporary posts were entitled to have their seniority reckoned from the date they became members of the service.

Analysis: Under the earlier service rules, a person appointed in substantive capacity to a post in the cadre became a member of the service, and seniority was to be determined by the date of appointment to the service. The cadre consisted of both permanent and temporary posts. Once an officer was duly selected by the Public Service Commission and appointed substantively, the length of service from the date of membership could not be cut off merely because the post remained described as temporary. The amended rule that restricted seniority to appointments in permanent vacancies was held to be arbitrary in this context.

Conclusion: Seniority of such officers had to be counted from the date they became members of the service, not from later appointment against a permanent vacancy.

Issue (iii): Whether purely ad hoc or officiating service could be counted for seniority.

Analysis: Service rendered on a purely ad hoc, fortuitous, or stop-gap basis does not count towards seniority unless the appointee becomes a member of the service in accordance with the rules or the appointment is regularised under the applicable regularisation scheme. Seniority is linked to membership of the service and substantive appointment, not to temporary stop-gap tenure.

Conclusion: Purely ad hoc or officiating service could not be counted for seniority until regularisation and membership of the service.

Final Conclusion: The impugned seniority list and the offending amendments were set aside, fresh seniority was directed to be prepared on the basis of substantive membership of the service, and prior confirmations and non-ad hoc promotions were preserved.

Ratio Decidendi: For a cadre comprising permanent and temporary posts, an officer appointed substantively in a temporary post becomes a member of the service, and seniority must be reckoned from that date; retrospective rule changes cannot arbitrarily divest that accrued seniority or treat such service as non-membership for seniority purposes.

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