Shri Govinda Chandra Tiria v. Sibaji Charan Panda & Ors.
Background
Respondent No.1 was appointed as a Lower Division Clerk in a Central Government ministry in Delhi and later went on deputation to a regional office in Bhubaneshwar. After years of seeking permanent transfer, he was finally absorbed into the Bhubaneshwar office in 1996-97 on specific conditions he accepted in writing: he would be treated as a "fresh appointee" ranked junior-most in that office's seniority list. Years later, once a seniority list placed him below the appellant, he challenged it, arguing his seniority should instead be counted from his earlier deputation date. A tribunal rejected his claim, but the Orissa High Court sided with him, prompting the appellant (whose own seniority was affected) to approach the Supreme Court.
Decision Breakdown
The Supreme Court held that an employee who voluntarily accepts specific terms for an absorption/transfer, including being ranked junior-most, cannot later resile from those terms by invoking government circulars meant to protect deputationists. Those protective circulars apply only where the transfer was "strictly in public interest"; here, the move was made at the respondent's own repeated insistence, not in public interest. The Court therefore set aside the High Court's judgment and restored the original seniority list. However, noting that the respondent had since been promoted in the meantime and years had passed, the Court directed that he not be demoted, instead directing creation of a supernumerary post to accommodate him without disturbing the seniority list.
Lesson Learnt
If a government employee voluntarily accepts specific conditions, such as reduced seniority, in exchange for a transfer they sought themselves, they cannot later challenge those very conditions once the benefit has been availed.