Ad hoc temporary service cannot count toward regular-cadre seniority absent specific judicial direction.

The applicant was initially appointed as Draftsman Grade-II on an ad hoc basis for the 1991 Census, with effect from 16.04.1991, against a post expressly created for temporary census work.

After a short break, he was reappointed as Draftsman with effect from 24.02.1992 on the same terms and conditions as his earlier ad hoc appointment. His services were terminated on 01.12.1993 upon abolition of the post.

The applicant thereafter pursued litigation seeking reappointment/absorption. In O.A. No. 169/1999, the Tribunal directed the respondents to absorb him against a regular post in accordance with the rules; the order was affirmed by the Gauhati High Court and the Supreme Court dismissed the respondents’ SLPs.

Pursuant thereto, the applicant was offered and accepted regular appointment as Draftsman in the Directorate of Census Operations, West Bengal, and joined on 04.08.2004.

In the final combined seniority list of Senior Draftsmen as on 01.01.2024, the respondents reckoned the applicant’s seniority from 04.08.2004, placing respondent No. 6 above him.

The applicant challenged the seniority list and rejection of his representation, claiming that his seniority should be counted from 24.02.1992 because his earlier appointment followed a selection process through the Employment Exchange.

The respondents contended that the earlier appointment was purely temporary and ad hoc, whereas 04.08.2004 was the applicant’s date of regular appointment as reflected in the official records.

1. Whether the applicant’s ad hoc/temporary service from 24.02.1992 could be counted for determining his seniority in the regular cadre of Senior Draftsman.

2. Whether the applicant was entitled to be placed above respondent No. 6 in the final combined seniority list as on 01.01.2024.

3. Whether the principle in Direct Recruit Class II Engineering Officers’ Association v. State of Maharashtra, (1990) 2 SCC 715, required the applicant’s seniority to be reckoned from 24.02.1992 rather than from 04.08.2004.

The application was brought under Section 19 of the Administrative Tribunals Act, 1985.

The Tribunal applied the principle that seniority may ordinarily be counted from the date of appointment when the appointment is made according to the applicable rules, as stated in Direct Recruit Class II Engineering Officers’ Association v. State of Maharashtra, (1990) 2 SCC 715.

However, temporary or ad hoc service cannot be treated as regular qualifying service for seniority where the appointment was expressly temporary, was not a regular appointment to the cadre, and no judicial or administrative order directed retrospective counting of that service.

An order directing absorption “in accordance with the rules” does not, by itself, confer retrospective seniority from the date of an earlier ad hoc appointment.

The Tribunal found that the applicant’s appointment from 24.02.1992 was made on the same terms as his earlier appointment, which expressly described the post as purely temporary and ad hoc and liable to termination.

His services were in fact terminated in 1993, confirming the temporary nature of that engagement.

The order in O.A. No. 169/1999 directed absorption against a regular post in accordance with the rules but did not direct that the applicant’s earlier ad hoc service be counted for seniority.

The applicant accepted the 2004 appointment and joined the regular post on 04.08.2004, which date was consistently recorded in his Service Book and other official documents.

Consequently, the Direct Recruit principle was held inapplicable because the 1992 appointment was not a regular appointment to the cadre, and no material established a right to retrospective seniority.

The final combined seniority list dated 09.04.2024 and the rejection of the applicant’s representation were upheld insofar as they related to him.

The Original Application was dismissed, pending miscellaneous applications, if any, were disposed of, and there was no order as to costs.