In Brief
Civil servants appointed as ad hoc clerks in Punjab in 1975–76 were later regularized in 1977 and claimed seniority credit for their ad hoc service period. A 1991 High Court judgment (Malook Singh) favored this claim, but later courts held that ad hoc service cannot count toward seniority under the settled legal principle when initial appointments bypass normal recruitment procedures. After decades of litigation and retirement of all affected employees, the Supreme Court affirmed that ad hoc service does not count for seniority. However, exercising discretion under Article 142, the Court protected all pensionary benefits already being paid to both appellants and respondents, barring any recoveries, to prevent further hardship and administrative burden.
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