Deputation to permanent absorption: long service alone does not create an enforceable right or justify mandamus

Employees sent on deputation to a newly created bureau did not acquire an enforceable right to permanent absorption merely because they continued in service after the recruitment rules came into force and rendered long service. The governing scheme contemplated filling posts by direct selection or transfer, and no express rule created a legal entitlement to absorption or justified a writ of mandamus. The administration could still consider the employees for absorption if they were otherwise suitable, but that was a matter of discretion, not enforceable right.

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Issues: Whether employees sent on deputation to a newly created bureau acquired an enforceable right to permanent absorption or a mandamus directing such absorption could be issued.

Analysis: The governing scheme and the recruitment rules contemplated filling the posts by direct selection or by transfer, but the petitioners' entry into the bureau was initially on deputation. The Court found that continuation in service after the rules came into force and the rendering of long service did not, by itself, create an enforceable legal right to permanent absorption. At the same time, the Court noted that the rules permitted consideration of transfer and that the administration would benefit from the petitioners' experience, so the appropriate government could consider their case for absorption if they were otherwise suitable.

Conclusion: No mandamus for permanent absorption could be issued and the petitioners had no enforceable right to such absorption.

Ratio Decidendi: Continuance on deputation and passage of time do not, without an express rule conferring such entitlement, create an enforceable right to permanent absorption or justify a writ of mandamus for that purpose.

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