In Brief
Sudhir Kumar Atrey and others were selected in June 1983 for military engineering posts but appointed only in 1987-1988, creating a seniority dispute. The core issue was whether their seniority should be calculated from their placement in the June 1983 select panel or from their actual date of appointment. The Supreme Court held that when separate Commands make independent selections but later consolidate into an All India seniority list, seniority is determined by the date of appointment, not panel rank. However, as promotions and retirements had already occurred, the Court exercised its constitutional power to do complete justice and declined to disturb the settled positions, partly dismissing one appeal and allowing the other without altering the respondents' status."
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