In Brief
The Supreme Court held that seniority of Junior Engineers appointed by Uttarakhand Pey Jal Nigam must be determined according to a mandatory 100-point roster approved in a Government order dated 31st August, 2001, not merely by date of appointment. Although some candidates were appointed earlier, they ranked lower in merit according to the selection process. The Court ruled that statutory recruitment regulations must be read harmoniously to give effect to the merit-based system, and that appointments made in violation of statutory procedures cannot override the rights of higher-merit candidates. The Court set aside the High Court's seniority order and directed the Nigam to recast seniority according to the roster-prescribed method."
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