In Brief
Vinod Verma, a Sub-Divisional Engineer in the Telecommunications Engineering Service, challenged the redrawing of seniority lists by the Central Administrative Tribunal, which based seniority on date of joining rather than ROTA (Rotation of Vacancy) principles. The Supreme Court held that the Recruitment Rules, 1996, being silent on seniority determination, do not provide for ROTA (unlike the 1981 Rules). The date of joining is the correct criterion for seniority. A three-Judge Bench had already settled this controversy in BSNL v. S.K. Dubey (2014), holding that no promotion or seniority can be granted retrospectively when an employee has not been born in the cadre. The appeal was dismissed as the matter was covered by binding precedent."
The lawyer headnote and full judgment text are available to registered users.