In Brief
The Supreme Court held that government employees have no vested right to be appointed under rules that existed when a vacancy arose; instead, appointments must be made under rules in force when consideration actually takes place. The Court overruled the principle in Y.V. Rangaiah v. J. Sreenivasa Rao (1983), which had held that pre-amendment vacancies must be filled under old rules. The Court emphasized that public employment is a 'status' relationship (not contract) governed exclusively by rules, which the State may unilaterally alter for public interest. Policy decisions to restructure cadres and apply new rules to pending vacancies are constitutionally valid. Here, since new recruitment rules were notified before consideration, they applied to all vacancies including those arising before amendment.
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