1. Dispute over counting ad hoc service with breaks for seniority purposes prior to the implementation of recruitment rules. (Para 2 )
Back
Next 
2001 Supreme(SC) 825
SUPREME COURT OF INDIA
B.N.Agrawal : G.B.Pattanaik
Neki Ram
Versus
Ama Ram Godara
Case No. : 14170 of 1996
Date of Decision : 5/1/01
Ad hoc service characterized by discontinuity cannot be counted for seniority purposes as each period is considered a fresh service, unless a specific rule or final administrative decision provides otherwise.
Headnote:(A) Service Law - Seniority - Ad hoc service - Determination of seniority in the cadre of Clerks - Services rendered as an ad hoc employee with several breaks in service - In the absence of recruitment rules, if there is discontinuity in service, each period must be held to be a fresh service - Such ad hoc services cannot be counted for the purpose of determining seniority. (Para 2)
(B) Administrative Law - Board Resolutions - Reliance on a resolution to count ad hoc service for seniority - If no final decision has been taken by the Board, the court cannot proceed on the premise that a positive resolution exists to count such period. (Para 2)
Facts of the case:
An employee was appointed as a Clerk on an ad hoc basis and continued with several breaks in service until regularization. Recruitment rules came into force after the ad hoc period. The lower court had allowed the counting of ad hoc service for seniority based on a perceived resolution by the employer's board.
Findings of Court:
The court found that the discontinuity in service meant each period was a fresh service. Furthermore, the resolution relied upon by the lower court was not a final decision by the Board, meaning the lower court proceeded on an incorrect premise.
Issues: Whether services rendered as an ad hoc employee with breaks in service can be counted for the purpose of determining seniority.
Ratio Decidendi: Where there is discontinuity in ad hoc service, each period is treated as fresh service and cannot be counted toward seniority, especially when no final administrative decision or rule exists to the contrary.
Result: Appeal allowed.
Legal Category Hierarchy
Table of Contents
2. Whether ad hoc service should be counted for seniority, specifically relying on a purported resolution of the employer's board. (Para 2 )
3. Discontinuity in service renders each period a fresh service; the High Court relied on an incorrect premise regarding a board resolution. (Para 2 )
4. Ad hoc service with discontinuity cannot be counted for seniority as each interrupted period constitutes a fresh service. (Para 2 )
5. Appeal allowed and the impugned judgment set aside. (Para 2 )
6. Can ad hoc service with breaks be counted for seniority?
No. If there is discontinuity in ad hoc service, each period is held to be a fresh service and cannot be counted for the purpose of determining seniority. (Para 2 )
7. What is the legal effect of a board resolution that does not constitute a final decision on seniority?
A resolution that does not represent a final, positive decision by the Board cannot be used as a legal premise to count ad hoc service for seniority. (Para 2 )
G.B.PATTANAIK, J.
(1) THE judgment dated 9-12-1993 of the Division Bench of the High Court of Punjab and Haryana is under challenge in this appeal.
(2) THE question for consideration is whether the services rendered by Respondent 1 as an ad hoc employee in the cadre of Clerk can be counted for the purposes of determining his seniority. The said Respondent 1 was appointed as a Clerk on ad hoc basis on 17-7-1973 and with several breaks in the service for different periods continued, till he was regularised on 7-2- 1975. Prior to 1975, there were no recruitment rules and recruitment rules came into force in the year 1975 called "the Haryana State Central Cooperative Bank Services (Common Cadre) Rules, 1975" (hereinafter referred to as "the Rules"). The so-called ad hoc services rendered by Respondent 1 was prior to the aforesaid Rules coming into force. If there would have been no discontinuity in the service, it might have been possible to count the entire period for seniority in the absence of any rule. But in view of the discontinuity, each period must be held to be a fresh service and, therefore, by no stretch of imagination, could the services rendered for the period from 17-7-1973 till 7-2-1975 be counted for the purpose of determining the seniority in the cadre of Clerks. The High Court, in the impugned judgment, relied upon a resolution of the Bank which, according to the Court, was a decision that ad hoc services could be counted for the purpose of seniority. But when we examined the aforesaid resolution, we found that in fact no such final decision has been taken by the Board of the Bank and, therefore, the High Court proceeded on an incorrect premise in coming to the conclusion that in fact a positive resolution has been taken by the Board to count the ad hoc period also for the purposes of seniority. In this view of the matter, the impugned judgment of the High Court must be held to be erroneous and we, therefore, set aside the said judgment dated 9-12-1993 and allow this appeal.
