M. Thanigivelu And Ors. Vs Tamil Nadu Electricity Board And Ors. (Supreme Court of India)
Supreme Court held that seniority of direct recruit is to be counted from the date of their initial appointment and not from the date when they were put on probation. Accordingly, present appeals are allowed and order of High Court set aside.
Facts- This judgment will dispose of a bunch of appeals involving identical issues. Vide common judgment’, passed by the Division Bench of the High Court, seven writ appeals were disposed of. The Division Bench of the High Court had set aside the order passed by the Single Bench whereby writ petitions filed by the private respondents herein were dismissed. The dispute pertains to inter-se seniority of the Assistant Engineers (Electrical), directly recruited and internally selected candidates. The appellants are the direct recruits, and the private respondents are the internally selected candidates.
Conclusion- Regulation 97 talks about seniority. It does not talk about the date of appointment which in fact had already been clarified in Regulations 10(9) and 87. It only mentions that the seniority shall be determined on the basis of the rank obtained by a candidate in the list of approved candidates drawn by the Board or any other appointing authority. Date of commencement of probation shall be the date on which he joins duty, irrespective of seniority.
