In Brief
Diploma-holding Sub-Assistant Engineers (SAEs) challenged a Kolkata Municipal Corporation (KMC) circular creating supernumerary Assistant Engineer posts with different eligibility conditions based on educational qualifications: degree-holders required 13 years' service while diploma-holders required 25 years. The appellants contended this violated Articles 14 and 16 (equality) since both groups were recruited through a common examination. The Supreme Court upheld the circular, holding that while persons from different recruitment sources cannot be differentiated based on source alone after integration into a common cadre, they may be classified on substantive grounds like educational qualifications if reasonably linked to administrative efficiency. The Court found the classification valid as it reflected KMC's longstanding policy of maintaining a higher proportion of degree-holders at the Assistant Engineer level for better technical expertise and efficiency, and did not entirely exclude diploma-holders from promotion.
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