Seniority Must Be Based On Length Of Service In Absence Of Specific Rules When Cadres Are Integrated: Kerala High Court

The Division Bench comprising Justice Sushrut Arvind Dharmadhikari and Justice Syam Kumar V.M. set aside an earlier judgment of a single judge.

The case arose after the Kerala State Electricity Board (KSEB) abolished the post of Foreman (Civil) in 2000 and integrated it with the cadre of Sub Engineer (Civil). While effecting this merger, the Board placed all Foremen below the junior-most Sub Engineer, irrespective of their earlier entry into service. The appellant, who had joined as Foreman in 1995, was thus ranked junior to employees appointed five years later than his appointment.

The appellant submitted a representation requesting his service to be reckoned from the date of entering service and not from the date of cadre integration. The Chief Engineer rejected the representation stating that the post of Foreman(Civil) did not have any promotional avenues even though the scale of pay and qualification for both Foreman and Sub Engineer were identical. It was further submitted that the cadre of Foreman (Civil) was not re-designated but integrated with the cadre of Sub Engineer (Civil) with effect from 29.08.2000, on the ground that it would be unfair to disturb the settled seniority of the other existing Sub Engineers owing to the integration.

Aggrieved by this, a writ petition was filed, which was rejected by the Single Judge citing the absence of any explicit provision in the settlement agreement and thus an appeal was filed.

The counsel for the appellant contended that the Chief Engineer did not have the power to decide that the appellant would be the junior most. It was further contended that the appellant was granted time-bound promotion by counting his earlier service from 1995 and not the service after integration.

Relying on the Supreme Court's precedents, including Nirmal Kumar Choudhary v. State of Bihar (1988 Supp SCC 107), the Court reiterated the principle that seniority ordinarily depends upon the length of service unless rules provide otherwise. The Bench observed that the Chief Engineer had erred in placing the appellant below the junior-most Sub Engineer.

“On perusal of the aforesaid judgment, it is clear that in the absence of any specific rules regarding the reckoning of seniority after integration, length of service is the appropriate criterion for determining seniority. The learned Single Judge erred in concluding that there was no specific provision in the settlement stating that integration would take effect from the date on which the appellant was appointed.” the court noted

Accordingly, the Court allowed the writ appeal, set aside the impugned orders, and directed the KSEB to recast the seniority list by giving due weight to the appellant's service from 1995.

Case Title: K C Dileep Kumar v Kerala State Electricity Board Ltd and Others

Citation: 2025 LiveLaw (Ker) 603

Case No: WA No. 928/ 2020

Counsel for Appellants: Elvin Peter P J (Sr.), K R Ganesh, N R Reesha, T S Likhitha

Counsel for Respondents: M K Thankappan

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