In Brief
This judgment concerns the inter se seniority of Assistant Conservator of Forest (ACF) officers appointed through nomination versus promotion in Maharashtra. The appellants were recruited and trained in 2014 but received appointment orders in 2016, while respondents were promoted to ACF in 2014–2015. The Court held that seniority should be reckoned from the date of the appointment order after successful completion of training, not from the commencement of training. The Proviso to the 1984 DFO Rules explicitly excludes training and probation periods from service computation for promotion purposes, and this statutory provision cannot be overridden by Government Resolutions. The appeal was dismissed, affirming the High Court's judgment.
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