In Brief
M.M. Thomas and others, employees of the Employees Provident Fund Organisation (EPFO) who were transferred from Karnataka/Tamil Nadu to Kerala, challenged their exclusion from a promotion list to Enforcement Officer/Accounts Officer posts. The Tribunal and High Court held they lacked the required five years' service in Kerala. The Supreme Court reversed this decision, holding that the eligibility rule requires five years' cumulative service across all regions of posting, not exclusively in the promotion region. Since the appellants' prior service in Karnataka/Tamil Nadu counted towards the total requirement, they qualified for promotion eligibility despite incomplete tenure in Kerala."
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