JUDGMENT

NATARAJAN, J.:— This appeal by special leave is directed against the order of a learned single Judge of the Allahabad High Court in Civil Misc. Writ Petn. No. 3710 of 1985 filed in the High Court by the first respondent herein. The appeal lies within a narrow compass as the limited question for consideration is whether the extraordinary leave granted to the appellant for the period 24-12-1980 to 31-7-1983 on the request of the Government of India for his being posted on a teaching assignment in the University of Aden (South Yemen) effected a break in service so as to deprive the appellant of his seniority in the Department of Zoology in the D. A. V. College, Kanpur.

2. The facts, which are not in controversy, of the case, are briefly as set out below.

On 1-9-1949 the appellant was appointed as Lecturer in Zoology in substantive capacity in the D. A. V. College, Kanpur. About six weeks later i.e. on 12-9-1949 (sic) the first respondent was also appointed as a Lecturer in Zoology in the same College. In the year 1974 the appellant was appointed as the Head of the Department of Zoology in the said College. On 24-12-1980 the appellant was granted extraordinary leave on the request of the Government of India for being sent on a teaching assignment to the University of Aden (South Yemen) on the express condition that his lien on the post in the College will be maintained and his seniority will be protected. On the basis of such an arrangement the appellant fulfilled his teaching assignment at the University of Aden and on return to India he sought to resume his post in the College. The first respondent who was acting as the Head of the Department refused to hand over charge on the ground he had attained seniority over the appellant. It is relevant to mention here that the first respondent did not also continuously serve the College but left its services and went to other teaching institutions and after stints of service therein, he rejoined the Department of Zoology in the D. A. V. College, Kanpur. It would appear that the first respondent went over on 21-1-78 as Principal of the D. A. V. College, Dehra Dun and thereafter he went over as Principal of the D. B. S. College, Kanpur and subsequently he came back to the D. A. V. College, Kanpur.

3. As the first respondent refused to hand over charge of the Department, the appellant made a representation to the Principal and sought his intervention. After considerable delay the Principal refused to countenance the appellants claim to seniority and sustained the stand taken by the first respondent.

4. The appellant challenged the order of the Principal before the Vice-Chancellor of Kanpur University. While contending that he had not suffered a break in service and his seniority over the first respondent has remained intact all through his period of service on deputation, the appellant further contended that the first respondent had in fact suffered break in service because of his spells of service at the D. A. V. College, Debra Dun and the D. B. S. College, Kanpur and as such the first respondents claim of continuous service was an untenable one. The Vice-Chancellor upheld the appellants claim that he had not suffered any break in service and by virtue of his lien he was entitled to his rightful place of seniority. Aggrieved by the order of the Vice-Chancellor, the first respondent preferred an appeal to the Chancellor but the Chancellor affirmed the order of the Vice-Chancellor and dismissed the appeal.

5. Thereafter the first respondent filed Civil Misc. Writ Petition No. 3710 of 1985 under Art. 226 of the Constitution before the High Court of Allahabad. By the impugned order a learned single Judge of the High Court allowed the writ petition holding that in terms of either the Old Statutes or the First Statutes of the Kanpur University the appellant herein is not entitled to reckon the period of service at the University of Aden for computing the length of service in the D. A. V. Col