State of Odisha v. Sreepati Ranjan Dash
Background
This judgment disposed of two connected appeals by the State of Odisha, one concerning respondent Sreepati Ranjan Dash and another (tagged) concerning Aditya Bhanjan Sahoo, both of whom had been promoted through the ranks of Junior Assistant and Senior Assistant and sought promotion to the post of Assistant Regional Transport Officer. That post had historically been filled under 1981 Executive Instructions, but in 2017 it was restructured and brought under the Odisha Transport Service, and in 2021 formal Cadre Rules were framed under Article 309 of the Constitution superseding the earlier instructions. The respondents' writ petitions, claiming a right to be considered/promoted under the old Executive Instructions, were allowed by a Single Judge and upheld by a Division Bench of the Orissa High Court, prompting the State's appeal to the Supreme Court.
Decision Breakdown
The Supreme Court held that the 2021 Rules superseded the Executive Instructions, and that the "saving" clause in the Rules' preamble (protecting "things done or omitted to be done" before supersession) could not rescue the respondents' claim because, at the time of supersession, no appointment had been made and the Departmental Promotion Committee (DPC) itself had not even been constituted, so there was no completed act for the Rules to save. The Court also clarified that rules framed under Article 309 automatically prevail over conflicting executive instructions, and that the post of Assistant Regional Transport Officer was a "selection post," not a promotional one, meaning the respondents had, at best, a right to be considered under the rules in force, not an automatic right to appointment. Since the Government was within its authority to change the method of selection (here, to direct recruitment via the Odisha Public Service Commission) absent any arbitrariness, the Court found the Division Bench's reasoning erroneous and allowed the State's appeals, setting aside the High Court's orders.
Lesson Learnt
Executive instructions governing recruitment or promotion hold the field only until formal statutory rules are framed under Article 309 of the Constitution, which then automatically override them; and for a "selection post" (as opposed to a straightforward promotional post), an employee has only a right to be considered under the rules in force at the relevant time, not a vested right to the post itself.