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Jagmohan Singh Dhillon Etc. Etc. v. Satwant Singh & Ors.

Civil Appeal · 2021 INSC 215Decided 26 Mar 2021
Civil Appeal Nos. 4616-4618 of 2010
Justice Ashok Bhushan · Justice S. Abdul Nazeer · Justice Hemant Gupta

Background

The appellant, an ex-serviceman, was appointed to the Punjab Civil Service (Executive Branch) in 1986 pursuant to a 1982 advertisement, against vacancies that had actually arisen earlier, between 1979 and 1982, under an older 1972 reservation scheme. The 1972 Rules had allowed military service to count towards seniority, but this benefit was dropped when the 1972 Rules were repealed and replaced by the 1982 Rules. The appellant argued that because the vacancies predated the 1982 Rules, the more generous 1972 Rules should still govern his seniority, relying on an earlier High Court ruling (Ishwar Singh) that had applied the 1972 reservation percentage to these very vacancies. The High Court's Division Bench rejected this and restored the seniority list, prompting this appeal.

Decision Breakdown

The Supreme Court held that the Ishwar Singh judgment only settled the percentage of vacancies reserved for ex-servicemen (20% under the old rules, since the vacancies arose before 1982) and did not decide anything about seniority. Seniority is a separate question governed by the rules in force when a person actually enters service, and since the appellant was appointed in 1986 under the 1982 Rules, which had repealed the military-service seniority benefit, he could not claim that benefit. The Court also relied on its earlier decision in R.K. Barwal v. State of Himachal Pradesh, which held that seniority ordinarily runs from the date of entry into service and that extending military-service weightage to every ex-serviceman would have far-reaching, inequitable consequences. The saving clause in the 1982 Rules did not protect the appellant because no seniority-related right had already accrued to him before he joined service. The appeals were dismissed, upholding the High Court's Division Bench judgment.

Lesson Learnt

When old service rules granting a benefit are repealed and replaced before a person is actually appointed, the person is generally governed by the new rules then in force: a prior court ruling about reservation percentages for older vacancies does not automatically carry over to decide a separate question like seniority.

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

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