In Brief
The Supreme Court dismissed the civil appeals of Nand Kumar Manjhi and others, who challenged their placement at the bottom of the Bihar Forest Service seniority list. The appellants were appointed in 1988 from an exhausted merit list beyond the advertised vacancies—a wholly illegal appointment secured through representations. Although regularised in 2005 on humanitarian grounds, their seniority could only commence from that regularisation date, not their initial illegal appointment. The Court held that substantive appointments under service rules must comply with statutory requirements and notified vacancies. Appointments in excess of advertised vacancies violate Article 14 read with Article 16(1) of the Constitution.
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