In Brief
Junior Engineers from All India Radio were offered permanent absorption into the Department of Posts on deputation. The absorption terms explicitly stated they would be "new recruits" with service counted for "all purposes except seniority." The engineers later challenged the resulting seniority list, claiming past service should count. The Court held that voluntary acceptance of specified absorption terms binds the employee. Since recruitment rules did not prescribe deputation as a method, office memoranda providing past-service benefits did not apply. The engineers could not collaterally challenge terms via the seniority list when a direct challenge would be time-barred. Appeals dismissed.
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