In Brief
A senior military officer, Lt. Gen. Manomoy Ganguly, challenged his non-appointment as Director General Medical Services (Army) after the Supreme Court had quashed an earlier adverse decision and remitted the matter for reconsideration. The Court held that the government's policy requires assessing both 'inter se seniority' and 'inter se suitability' independently, with preference given to the senior-most competent officer. The lateral transfer of an officer from another service for the post was impermissible without exceptional circumstances. The Court found the new methodology of using Overall Average Performance from career records was unsupported by policy or its own judgment. The Court allowed the petition and directed the petitioner's appointment to the post, finding he was the senior-most eligible officer without any valid grounds of unsuitability being established."
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