In Brief
Appellants, unsuccessful in a 1985 recruitment for 40 Assistant Conservator positions, later secured appointment through representations after the merit list was exhausted. The Supreme Court held that such backdoor appointments beyond advertised vacancies are wholly illegal and do not confer seniority from the date of initial appointment. Under Rule 35 of the Bihar Forest Service Rules, 1953, seniority must be reckoned from the date of substantive appointment. The appellants' services, regularised in 2005 after serving 17 years, entitle them to seniority only from the regularisation date, not from 1988. Placing them at the bottom of the seniority list was legally correct and upheld.
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