Holding

Seniority of a local candidate appointed ad‑hoc is to be counted only from the date of regularisation under the Special Rules, not from the initial ad‑hoc appointment.

Summary

The respondent, V. Sreekanta, was appointed as an Excise Inspector (Junior) on a purely temporary, ad‑hoc basis on 17 January 1968 as a "local candidate" through the Employment Exchange. In October 1971, he was regularised under the Karnataka State Civil Services (Direct Recruitment to Class III posts) (Special) Rules, 1970. He claimed that his seniority should be counted from the 1968 appointment, but the department counted it from the 26 October 1971 regularisation. The High Court’s Division Bench held in his favour, directing seniority from 1968, which the State appealed. The Supreme Court held that, under Rule 3 and Rule 6 of the 1970 Special Rules, seniority for a local candidate appointed ad‑hoc begins only from the date of regularisation, not from the initial ad‑hoc appointment, and set aside the Division Bench’s decision, affirming the Single Bench’s dismissal of the writ petition.

Issues considered

Whether seniority of a local candidate appointed on an ad‑hoc basis should be reckoned from the date of initial appointment or from the date of regularisation under the Special Rules of 1970.
Whether the Karnataka Government Servants (Seniority) Rules, 1957 apply to local candidates in this context.
Interpretation of Rule 6 of the Karnataka State Civil Services (Direct Recruitment to Class III posts) (Special) Rules, 1970 regarding seniority.

Legislation cited

Constitution of Indias. Article 309
Karnataka Government Servants (Seniority) Ruless. 1-A
Karnataka State Civil Services (Direct Recruitment to Class III posts) (Special) Ruless. 3, s. 6

Subjects

senioritylocal candidatead‑hoc appointmentregularisationrecruitment rulesKarnataka civil servicesArticle 309service tenure

Judgment

EXCISE COMMISSIONER, KARNATAKA AND ANR. A
v.
r V. SREEKANTA

MARCH 5, 1993
B
[P.B. SAWANT AND G.N. RAY, JJ.]

'+'
'' Karnataka State Civil Services (Direct Recruitment to class III posts)
(Special) Rules, 1970:

Rules 3, 6-Seniority-fnspector of Excis~Appointment of "local can- c
didate''--Regularisatio,,.-Counting of service for purpose of seniority--
Whether from date of adlioc appointment or regulan·sation.

The Respondent and several others were appointed as Inspectors of
Excise (Junior) on a purely temporary basis on 17.1.1968. The services of D
these "local candidates" i.e. direct recruits appointed otherwise than in
,, accordance with the General Rules or Special Rules, were regularised
from 26.10.1971. Provisional seniority list prepared by the Department
showed the seniority of these candidates from the date of their regularisa-
tion and not from their date of appointment. Despite objections from the
candidates the said list was finalised. The Respondent challenged the E
seniority list by filing a Writ Petition before the High Court. The Writ
~ Petition was disposed of with a direction to the appellants that the
seniority list should be published afresh considering the claim of the
respondent that his seniority should be counted from his date of appoint-
ment and not from the date of his regularisation. Again, the department F
published a provisional seniority list showing the seniority of the Respon·
dent from the date of his regularisation. The Respondent filed another
Writ Petition challenging the seniority list. The writ petition was dis-
.~- missed by a Single Judge holding that as per Rule lA of Karnataka
Government Servants (Seniority) Rules, 1957 the said Rules were not
applicable to a local candidate, in whose case the seniority would count G
only from the date of regularisation. On an appeal by the Respondent, the
Division Bench of the High Court set aside the judgment of the Single
Judge and directed that seniority of the Respondent should be reckoned
/'· from the date of his initial appointment. Aggrieved by this judgment, the
Department preferred the present appeal. H
l
267
j
268 SUPR2ME COURT REPORTS [1993] 2 S.C.R.

A The appellants contended that since the respondent was appointed
to the post of Excise Inspector (Junior) as a local candidate purely on ad
hoc basis and so he was not entitled to count his ad hoc appointment for
purposes of seniority.

Allowing the appeal, this Court, \
B I
HELD: 1.1. The respondent was appointed as a local· candidate
through Employment Exchange in view of the specific sanction of the
Government for such ad hoc appointment. The terms of appointment hi I-

c
the context of sanction of the said posts by the Govetnmeiit dearly
demonstrat~s that such appointment of the said r~spo~dent and other
employees in 1968 was ad hoc appointment given to local .candidates
--
sponsored by the local Employment Exchange. It Was only on October 26,
1971, the respondent became eligible to be recruited in .the said Cliis_s IH
post, 'and such appointment/or regularisation of .h.is ad hor appointment
was made possible because of the framing of the Ka~atakii State· Civil
D Se6'ices (Special) Rules; 1970. [278D-E]
' ' . . . .-· . .

1.2. The respondent was not entitled to Claim seniority from the date
of his initial. ~ppoiiitment on ad hoc basis bui he was only entitled to
claim seni.ority fro.m the date of his subsequent appointment or
E regularisation under the special rules. Under Rule 3 of the special roles,
the respondent, having possessed the minimum qualifications prescribed
by the said special rules for recruitment to Class III Posts and the
respondent having been appointed on or after January 1, 1965 as a local
candidate to a Class III post and having put in a continuous service of one
~ear prior to October 1, 1970 was eligible to be appointed under the said
F spe~ial rules of ·recruitment and the respondent was given such appoint·
ment with elfect from October 26, 1971. [278F-H; 279A]
~·
13. The respondent was entitl~d to be treated as direct recruit '
properly made under the said special rules of 1970 only from October 26,
r•
,J
1971 and the service rendered by him prior to the said date was only on
the basis of ad hoc employment not made in accordance with the rules of
I
recruitment. [279A)

Direct Recntit Class 11 Engineering Officers' Associat~on and others v •
. State of Maharashtra and others, AIR 1990 SC 1607 and Masood Akhtar
H Khan v. State of Madhya Pradesh, [1990) 4 SCC 24, relied on.
EXCISE COMMR. v. V. SREEKANTA [RAY, J.] 269

CIVIL APPELLATE JURISDICTION: Civil Appeal No. 1220 of A
1993.

From the Judgment and Order dated 13.6.1990 of the Karnataka
High Court in Writ Appeal No. 2927 of 1986.

R.N.N. Murthy, M. Veerappa and K.H. Nobin Singh for the Appel- B
'f !ants.

H.N. Salve, S.R. Bhat, Mrs. Lalit M. Bhat, Ms. Kiran and N.R. Nath
for the Respondent.

The Judgment of the Court was delivered by c
G.N. RAY, J. Leave granted.

The special leave petition is directed against the judgment dated
June 13, 1990 in Writ Appeal No. 2927 of 1986 passed by the Division
Bench of Karnataka High Court reversing the judgment dated August 8, D
1986 passed by the learned Single Bench of the said High Court in Writ
Peititon No.6645 of 1982. The parties to the special leave application have
filed their respective counter affidavit and affidavit of rejoinder and have
also made their respective submissions at the hearing of the matter. For
the purpose of appre6ating the respective contentions of the parties to the
E
special leave petition, relevant facts may be indicated as hereunder.

The Respondent V. Sreekanta was appointed as an Inspector of
Excise (Junior) on January 17, 1968 vide O.M. No. ADM EST 1 1312/67
dated 11.1.1968 along with 37 other persons. It has been indicated in the
said letter of appointment that the candidates sponsored by different F
employment exchanges to the State were appointed as Excise Inspector
and posted to the places noted against each of them subject to the condi-
tions noted in the said letter of appointment. It was specifically stated in
the said appointment letter that the appointment were made on purely
temporary basis and the services were liable to be terminated at any time
without notice. All the candidates including the said Sri Sreekanta were G
required to give a declaration before joining the service to the effect: "I
understand that my employmrnl (Excise Inspector) is purely temporary
and my services may be dispensed with at any time \vithout any reason
being assigned therefore and I accept the employment on this basis". The
services of the said Respomlent Sri Sreekanta and similarly appointed H
270 SUPREME COURT REPORTS [1993) 2 S.C.R.

A other presons were regularised vide Order No. ADM EST 1 215/21-72
dated October 26, 1971 under the Mysore State Civil Services (Direct
Recruitment to class III posts) (special) Rules 1970. It was specifically
mentioned in the said order of regularisation/appointment of the
employees including the said Sri Sreekanta that the services of the said
employees being local candidates were regularised in the cadre of Inspec-
B
tors of Excise. The specific term of regularisation/appointment is to the
following effect:

"The following Local Candidates who were appointed as
Inspectors of Excise are found eligible for appointment to
c the posts (i.e. Inspectors of Excise) under Rule 3 of the
Mysore State Civil Services (Direct Recruitment to Class
III posts) (Special) Rules 1970. They are hereby appointed
temporarily as Inspectors of Excise in the pay scales of
Rs.160-350 with effect from the date of this order and are
placed on probation for a period of 2 years from the said
D date.'
1

It was also indicated in the said order of appointment that "the seniority
of the candidates in question shall be governed by provisions of Rule 6 of
the Mysore State Civil Services (Direct Recruitment to Class III posts)
E (Special) Rules 1970. ~

In the Karnataka State Civil Services (Direct Recruit to Class III
posts) (Special) Rule 1970 framed under Article 309 of the Constitution
'local candidate' has been defined as follows:-
F
"Local candidate means any person appointed to any of
the categories of Class III posts by an appointing authority
by direct recruitment otherwise than in accordance with
rule 4 of the Karnataka State Civil Services (General
Recruitment Rules 1957, or the special rules of recruit-
G ment applicable to such category of Class III Posts, but
does not include any person;-

(i) Selected by the Karnataka Public Service Commission
and appointed to an assumed charge of such post in
H pursuance of such selection; or
EXCISE COMMR. v. V. SREEKANTA [RAY, J.] 271

(ii) appointed temporarily for a fixed period or for any A
item of work; or

(iii) whose services have been terminated due to resigna-
tion or an enquiry under the Karnataka Civil Services
(Classification, Control and Appeal) Rules, 1957".
B
Rule 3 of the said Rules deal with Recruitment. It has been provided for
in Rule 3 that direct recruitment to Class III posts in the State Civil
Services shall, notwithstanding anything contained in any rules relating to
recruitment to any of the categories of Class III posts issued under the
proviso tQ Article 309 of the Constitution of India, be made by the authority C
concerned by appointing local candidates who were not disqualified for
appointment under the Karnataka State Civil Services (General Recruit-
ment) Rules 1957 on the date of their appointment as Local Candidates
and who possess the qualifications·specified in Sub Rule (2). Sub Rule (2)
is to the following effect:-
D
(2) For purposes of sub rule (1) the candidate must be
perso~,·""

(i) wh.o ~n the date of his appointment to the Class Ill
posts referred to in .item(ii),
E
(a) was within the age limit prescribed for recruitment to .
such post by th~ rules of iecruit~ent applicable to such
posrs, and where no such. rules have been made by the
Karnataka State Civil Services (General Recruitment)
- Rules, 1957;
F
(b) possessed the mm1mum academic . qualiflcaiion ·
prescribed by the special rules of recruitnie.nt ·ap-. ·
-~.
plicable for recruitment to such posts; and

(ii) who is or had been appointed on or. after the 1st ·
G
January, 1965 as a local candidate to a Class Ill post and
has or had put in a continuous ser\~ce 'of not less than one '
year at any time prior to 1st October, 1970.

Rule 4 of the said Rules dealing such manner of recruitment provides that
. in every department appointn1enl to vacanci.:• , ..:.g:ories of Class Ill H
•
272 SUPREME COURT REPORTS [1993] 2 S.C.R.

A posts remaining after appointment of candidates selected by Karnataka
Public Service Commission and after· providing. for appointment under·
Karnataka State Civil Service (Recuitment of Local Candidates toClass Ill·
posts) Rules 1966 shall be made by appointing local candidates under the
said Special Rules of 1970 who were in service o.n the date of commence- ·
ment of the said Rules of 1970 and who possessed qualifications as men-
B tioned in Rule 3 of the said Rules of 1970.

Rule 6 of the said Special Rules of 1970 provides as follows:-

"Service for purpose of seniority:-
c The service rendered by a candidate on or after the date
of his appointment to any category of post in a department
under Rule 4 shall count for purpose of determination of
seniority of such person with reference to persons who are
appointed to such category of posts in such Department."
D
The department prepared a provisional seniority list of the Inspector of ·
Excise (Junior) "and the seniority of Sri V.- Sreekanta was counted froni
26.10.1971 namely from the date of regularisation/appointment of the said
employee under the said service Rules of 1970 and not from his initial
E appointment on 17.1.1968. As despite objection, the final list of seniority
was published on the basis under which provisional list was published, the
said Sri V. Sreekanta moved a writ petition in the Karnataka High Court
in W.P. No.6662 of 1979.

The Writ Petition was disposed of by the Karnataka High Court by
F directing that the seniority list should be published afresh after considering
the claim of Sri V. Sreekanta that his seniority should be counted from
17.1.1968 and not from 26.10.1971. After the disposal of the said Writ
Petition, the provisional list was again published by counting the service of
the said Sri V. Sreekanta with effect from 26.10.1971. The wirt petitioner
G Sri V. Sreekanta then moved another Writ Petition in question namely W.P.
No.6645of1982 before the Karnataka High Court challenging the prepara-
tion of provisional list be counting his service from 26.10.1971.

The writ petitioner Sri V. Sreekanta contended that he being initially
apopointed as Excise Inspector (Junior) in 1968 and subsequently
H regularised in October 1971 his seniority should be counted only from the
•
-·-----------------------------------------,

I
EXCISE COMMR. v. V. SREEKANTA [RAY, J.] 2'73
\

date of initial appointment in 1968 and not from the date of regularisation A
and that in any event, in view of allowing his claim of seniority by quashing
the seniority list and directing the respondent to prepare the seniority list
afresh after taking into consideration the claim of the writ petitioner in the
said earlier writ petition, the concerned authorities were not entitled to
· count the seniority of writ petitioner again on the basis of appointment on B
26.10.1971. The learned Single Bench by the judgment dated .August 7,
1986 dismissed the writ petition by holding inter alia that the writ petitioner
did not produce the relevant orders namely the order of appointment made
on 17.1.1968 nor the order regularising his service on 26.10.1971 and the
writ petitioner having been appointed as a local candidate on 17.1.1%8, as
per Rule lA of Karnataka Government Servants (Seniority) Rules 1957, C
the said seniority rules were not applicable to a local candidate so long he
- continued as local candidate. The proviso to the said Rule 1A provided
that where appointment was treated as regularised from any date,. the
seniority in the service of such person would be determined in accordance
with the Rules as if he had been appointed regularly as per the Rules of D
recruitment to the post held by him. Hence the seniority of the writ
petitione~ was to be counted from 26.10.1971 and not otherwise.

The writ petitioner thereafter preferred an appeal before the
Division Bench of the Karnataka High Court. The Division Bench allowed
_ the appeal and set aside the judgmen't of the learned Single Bench by its E
judgment dated June 13, 1990. Unfortunately the judgment in appeal by
the Division Bench is Very cryptic and does not contain any reasoning for
the conclusion made by the Division Bench that "irrespective of the ir-
regularity in the original appointment, where the appellant was a local
candidate and not a regular appointee, inasmuch as he was appointed in F
the year 1968, for the purpose of seniority that date alone is material". Th~
Division Bench directed that seniority of the appellant should be reckoned
from the date of initial appointment. As aforesaid, this d~cision of the
Division Bench is the subject matter of challenge in this special leave
petition.
r' G
It may be stated here that during the pendency of the special leave
petition .the ~t petitioner Sri V: Sreekanta and a number of other
employees who were regularised/appointed under the said service Rule of
1970 with effect from 26.10.1971 moved several applications before the
Karnataka Administr~tive Tribunal praying for directing the concerned I~
274 SUPREME COURT REPORTS (1993] 2 S.C.R.

A authorities being Respondents in the applications, to count the services of
the said applicants rendered as local candidats for the purpose of their
seniority in the cadre. Sri V. Sreekanta was applicant in Application
No.4795 of 1990. The Administrative Tribunal disposed of the application
of the applicant Sri V. Sreekanta by holding that for the self same relief
no fresh application could be moved before the Administrative Tribunal
B
and if the said applicant was aggrieved on account of non implementation
of the judgment rendered in his appeal by the Division Bench of Karnataka
High Court, he could niove a contempt application before the High Court.
All other appications by different applicants were rejected by the Kar-
nataka Administrative Tribunal by holdihg inter alia that they being local
c candidates, the seniority is to be counted only from the date of regularisa-
ti on.

Mr. Narasimha Moorthy, leanred counsel appearing for the appel- "f
!ants, has submitted that the Writ Petitioner/respondent had never been
appointed on a regular basis and such appointment of the respondent was
D made only as a stop-gap-measure on an ad hoc basis without following the
regular procedure for direct recruitment to the Class Ill Posts. He has
drawn our attention to the Government decision being Order No.HD 154
EDC 67 dated August 31, 1967 by which Government sanctioned 57 posts
of Excise Inspectors (Junior) on consideration of the proposals made by
E the Excis~ Commisioner. It was specifically mentioned in the said Order: ~·

"in the meanwhile, as the posts are to be filled up
forthwith, the Excise Commissioner is requested to take
action to make in-charge arrangements as far as possible
and to fill up the released and other vacancies by local
F candidates through Employment Exchange and at the
same time, to take action to fill up the posts through the
Public Commission for replacing the local candidates."

(emphasis supplied)
G
In the appointment letter by which the said Writ Petitioner/respon-
dent and 37 other prsons were appointed on January 11, 1968, the aforesaid
Government Order No. HD EDC 67 dated August 31, 1967 was men-
tioned.

H Mr. Narasimha Moorthy hi)S submitted that as for the respondent,
EXCISE COMMR. v. V. SREEKANTA [RAY, J.] 275

Sri V. Sreekanta, the letter of appointment read with the s1lnction of the A
Government as contained in G.O. ~:o. HD 154 EDC 67 dated August 31,
1967, clearly demonstrates that the said respondent was given appointment
through Employment Exchange as a local candidate by way of a stop-gap-
measure and in their letter of appointment it was specifically mentioned
that such service was basically temporary and liable to be terminated
without assigning any reason whatsoever Mr. Narasimha Moorthy has also
B
contended that under the existing rules of recruitment, the sai;I respondent
could not have been appointed by the Excise Commissioner even though
the said respondent had requisite qualification for being considered for
appointment either by the Public Service Commission of Karnataka or in
accordance with the rules of recruitment for the said Class lJI Posts. Mr. c
Narasimha Morrthy has submitted that the cases of the said respondent
and other similarly circumstanced employees were favourably considered
by the Government and in order in give them appointment in accordance
with the rules, the said special recruitment rules of 1970 were framed under
Article 309 of the Constitution of India. Admittedly, under the said special D
recruitment rules of 1970, the said respondent and similarly circumstanced
other employees were appointed and/or regularised. He has submitted that
the said Class III posts were required to be filled up by way of direct
recruitment and so long the said special recruitment rules of 1970 had not
been framed, it was not possible to regularise the said respondent and
other employees and/or to appoint them in accordance with the Rules. E
Though factually the services of the said respondent and other regular
employees under the said special recruitment rules of 1970 were
regularised in law, the said respondent and other employees were deemed
to have been directly recruited to the said posts and precisely for the said
reason, in the letter of appointment it was mentioned that they had been F
directly appointed to the said posts with effect from October 26, 1971 and
they .should remain on probation for two years from the date of such
appointment. Mr. Narasimha Moorthy has submitted that in the facts and
cirr•imstances of the case, the pre\ious employment of the said respondent
being purely ad hoc appointment to a local candidate, the respondent was
not entitled to count his ad hoc appointment for the purpose of senority G
in the cadre. Although, the respondent in the said earlier proceedings
before the High Court of Karnataka had challenged the seniority list ·
.~· published by the Administration on the ground that his seniority should
have been reckoned from the date of initial appointment in 1968 ar.: not
from the subsequent regularisation of appointment on October 26, 1971; . H
276 SUPREME COURT REPORTS [1993) 2 S.C.R.

A the Karnataka High Court did not made any such fmding in favour of the
said respondent but only directed the authorities to publish the seniority
list after considering the said claim of the respondent. Since such claim
could not be entertained as legal and valid, such claim was not accepted
by the administration and the seniority list was published afresh by counting
B the service of the respondent and similarly circumstanced employees from
the date of their subsequent employment in accordance with the rules of
recruitment. Mr. Narasimha Moorthy has submitted that the Karnataka
· Governnient Servants (Seniority) Rules, 1957 do not support the conten-
tion of the respondents. He has submitted that Rule 1-A of the said
seniority rwes provides that the said Rules would not be applicable to the
C . local .c~didates who may be serving in any cadre. Proviso to the said Rule
1-A indi.cates that where the local candidate's appointment is treated as
· · regtilaris\id from any date, his seniority in the services shall be determined
. in acr'lr.dance with these rules as if he had been appointed regularly as per
·~.· .. ··
.the r\Jles of recruitinent to the posi held by him on that day•. Mr. Narasimha
D .. Moorthy has also drawn our attention to Rule 6 of the said special rules
of recruitment of 1970 and the said Rule 6 deals with the seniority of the
· employi;e~ ·appointed und~r the said rules. Under the provisions ~f Rule 6
.the servic~s rendered by candidate on or after the date of his appoiniment
· to any category of post of a department under Rule 4,. shall cotint fo(
· purpo.ses ·of seniority of such person with· a reference to persons who are
E . appointed.to the said category of such department. Mr..Narasimha Moor~
thy has also drawn ihe attention of this Court to the decisions. of this Court. ·-.1·
made in \be Direci Recruit Class II Engineering Officers' Association and
others v. State of Maharashtra a.nd others, AIR 1990 SC 1607 and Masood.
Akhfar Khan v: State of Madhya Pradesh, [1990) 4 SCC 24, The.
Constitutii:m\ Bench in Engineering Officers' Association's case has. held
F . that where .the initial appointment is only ad hoc and not according to rules
-
·and mad.e as a stop,gap arrangement, the officiation in such post cannot
be taken into account for considering the seniority. In the subsequent
decision in Masood Akhtar Khan's case, the said decision in Engineering
Officers' Association's case was referred to and it has been held by this
G Court that the decision of this Court unequivocally made it clear that if the
initial appointment is not according to the rules, subsequent regularisation
of service does not entitle an employee to the benefit of intervening service
for seniority. It has been contended by Mr. Narasimha Moorthy that in view
of such decisions of this Court and in view of the fact that the respondent
H was given appointment not in accordance with the existing rules but only
EXCISE COMMR. v. V. SREEKANTA [RAY, J.) 277

as a stop-gap-measure on ad hoc basis as local candidate, the service A
rendered by the said respondent as local candidate prior to his appoint-
ment or regularisation according to the said special rules of recruitment in
1970 cannot be taken into consideration for the purpose of fixing his
seniority in the. cadre. He has submitted that the learned Single Judge
disallowed the contention of the respondent on very cogent reasons and no
exception should be made to such decision of the learned Single Bench. B
Mr. Narasimha Moorthy has submitted that unfortunately the Division
Bench has· not referred to the real question involved in the matter and
without considering the reasonings indicated in the decision of the learned
Single Judge and also the correct legal position as laid down by this Court
h_as come to the c:Onclusion that irrespective of the fact that the respondentc
was a local candidate, his seniority should be fixed from the date of his
initial appointment and not from the date of regularisation. Mr. Narasimha
Moorthy has submitted that such view is contrary to the service rules and
also contrary to the decisions of this Court referred to hereinbefore. He
has, therefore, submitted that the decision of the Division Bench of the D
Karnataka High Court should be set aside and the Writ Petition of the
respondent should be dismissed.

Mr. Harish Salve, learned counsel appearing for the respondent Sri
V. Sreekanta, has submitted that the. decisions of this Court as referred to
hereinbefore are not applicable to the facts and circumstances of the case. E
In all the said decisions, it has been held that in the case of ad hoc
appointment, "seniority should not be counted for the period of such ad hoc
appointment. He has submitted that in the instant case it should not be
construed that the ·respondent was given an ad hoc appointment. The
respondent was recruited through Employment Exchange and admittedly, .F.
the respondent had requisite qualifications making him eligible to be
directly recruited. under the existing rules of recruitment. He has further
submitted ihat th~ respondent was intended to be absorded·which may be
evident from the fact that in the letter of appointment it was indicated that
the registration with the Employment Exchange was to be cancelled on
being given appointment to the concernedemployees. Since the respondent G
and some other employees were given temporary appointment without
following existing recruitment _rules, the Government in its anxiety to do
justice to the respondent and other employees framed the said special rules
of recruitment in 1970 and regularised their services. In such circumstan-
ces, the irregular appointment being subsequently regularised, the iespon- H•
278 SUPREME COURT REPORTS [1993) 2 S.C.R.

A dent and similarly circumstanced other employees were entitled to get the
benefit of the continuity in service from the date of initial appointment for
the purpose of reckoning the seniority. He has also submitted that it will
be unfair and unjust to deny the seniority to the' said respondent when
admittedly, he had all the requisite qualifications of being directly recruited
in 1968 and he had been rendering useful srvice in the cadre. He, therefore,
B
submits that under the ratio in the Engineering Officers' Association's case
and Masood Akhtar Khan's case, the respondent is entitled to claim
seniority from the date of initial appointment and the Division Bench was
justified in holding that it was immaterial if the respondent had· been
appointed as local candidate through local Employment Exchange without
c following the rules of recruitment then in force. He has, therefore, sub-
mitted that no interference is called for against the decision of the Division
Bench of the Karnataka High Court and the appeal should be dismissed -
with costs.

D After giving our anxious consideration to the respective contentions
of the parties it appears to us that the Writ Petitioner/respondent, Sri V.
Sreekanta, was appointed as a local candidate through Employment Ex-
change in view of the specific sanction of the Government for such ad hoc
appointment. The terms of appointment in the context of sanction of the
said posts by the Government, in our view, clearly demonstrates that such
E appointment of the said respondent and other employees in 1968 was ad
hoc appointment given to local candidates being sponsored by the local
Employment Exchange. It was only on October 26, 1971, the said respon-
dent became eligible to be recruited in the said Class III post, and such
appointment/or regularisation of his ad hoc appointment was made pos-
F sible because of the framing of the said special rules of recruitment in 1970.
In our view, Mr. Narasimha Moorthy is justified in his submission that the
respondent was not entitled to claim seniority from the date of his initial
appointment on ad hoc basis but he was only entitled to claim seniority
from the date of his subsequent appointment or regularisation under the
said special rules of recruitment in 1970. It appears to us that under Rule
G 3 of the said special rules of recruitment of 1970, the respondent, having
possessed the minimum qualifications prescribed by the said special rules
of recruiiment ·for recruitment to Class III· Posts and the said respondent
having been appointed on or after January 1, 1965 as a local candidate to
a Class III post and having put in a continuous service of one year prior
H to October 1, 1970, was eligible to be appointed under the said special rules
EXCISE COMMR. v. V. ~REEKANTA [RAY, J.] 279

of recruitment and the responpent w•s given such appointment with effect A
from October 26, 1971 under ,~he sai4 special rules of recruitment of 1970.
The said respondent was entitled to Ire treated as direct recruit properly
made under the said special rules of 1970 only from October 26, 1971 and
the service rendered by him prior to the said date was only on the basis of
ad hoc employment not made in accordance with the rules of recruitment.
In the aforesaid circumstances, the decision of the Division Bench of the B
Karnataka High Court appears to be clearly erroneous and we have no
hesitation in setting aside the same. Learned Single Bench of the Karnataka

- High Court, in our view, has rightly dismissed the Writ Petition and we
' affirm the said. decision. The appeal is accordingly allowed without any
order as to costs. c
G.N. Appeal allowed.