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APSRTC rep. by its Chairman and Managing Director, Mushirabad v. A.U.M. Rao

Special Leave Petition (Civil) · 2018 INSC 1219Decided 7 Dec 2018
Special Leave Petition (Civil) No. 18047 of 2013
Dr. Justice D.Y. Chandrachud · Justice M.R. Shah

Background

The respondent was appointed as a contract driver with the Andhra Pradesh State Road Transport Corporation (APSRTC) in 2007. After a disciplinary enquiry, his services were terminated; a later departmental review led to his re-engagement as a fresh contract employee in 2012. He then went to the High Court seeking "continuity of service" (i.e., treating his earlier service as unbroken) from the date of his original termination to his re-engagement, relying on an earlier judgment involving a batch of similarly-placed workers. Both the Single Judge and the Division Bench of the Andhra Pradesh High Court ruled in his favour, prompting APSRTC's appeal to the Supreme Court.

Decision Breakdown

The Supreme Court held that the High Court's reliance on a generic batch-case direction, without examining the facts of this individual case, was erroneous. Since the respondent had never challenged either his original termination or his fresh appointment, there was no legal basis to grant him "continuity of service" spanning the gap: such continuity can only be granted once an order of termination is actually set aside. The Court also noted that granting continuity to someone found guilty of misconduct would unfairly put him on par with contract employees who had a clean record. It therefore allowed the appeal, set aside the High Court's judgment, and directed that the respondent's seniority be counted only from the date of his fresh (re-engagement) appointment, with no costs; a connected appeal (Civil Appeal No. 12012 of 2018) was disposed of on the same terms.

Lesson Learnt

An employee who does not legally challenge his own termination or his subsequent re-appointment cannot later claim "continuity of service" for the intervening gap: such continuity is only available when the termination order itself is set aside, and generic directions meant for a batch of cases should not be mechanically applied without checking each person's individual facts.

Official source (sci.gov.in)View Judgment (PDF)

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