In Brief
Girish Kumar and Respondent No. 3 (another employee) were competing for promotion to Section Officer. Respondent No. 3 was granted a deemed date of promotion to Office Superintendent under the Seniority Rules but was actually promoted much later. The Supreme Court held that the Seniority Rules (which grant deemed dates for seniority purposes) are distinct from the Recruitment Rules (which set promotion eligibility criteria). For promotion eligibility, an employee must have completed three years of actual continuous service in the feeder cadre, not service computed from a deemed date. Respondent No. 3 had not completed such actual service, so was ineligible. The Court allowed the appeal, set aside the High Court's order, and directed Girish Kumar's promotion instead.
The lawyer headnote and full judgment text are available to registered users.