Seniority Counts from Entry into New Service, Not Prior Service, Upon Voluntary Shift: Jharkhand HC - 2025-06-20

Jharkhand High Court Denies Retrospective Seniority Claim After Service Shift

Ranchi, Jharkhand - The High Court of Jharkhand, in a significant ruling on service law, has dismissed an appeal by three government officers seeking seniority in the Jharkhand Police Service (JPS) from the date of their initial appointment in the Jharkhand Administrative Service (JAS). The division bench, comprising Hon’ble Mr. Justice Sujit Narayan Prasad and Hon’ble Mr. Justice Rajesh Kumar , upheld the learned Single Judge's order, affirming that seniority in a new service commences from the date of joining that service, not from a prior engagement in a different service, even if the shift occurred due to a government initiative to fill vacancies.

The judgment, pronounced on June 10, 2025, in L.P.A. No. 204 of 2024, (Binod Kumar Mahto & Ors. vs. The State of Jharkhand & Ors.), clarified that a voluntary option to join a new service does not entitle an employee to count past service in a previous cadre for seniority in the new one, especially when they were not "born in the cadre" of the new service from the claimed date.

Case Background

The appellants, Binod Kumar Mahto, Shashi Prakash , and Ajay Kumar , were initially appointed to the Jharkhand Administrative Service on August 12, 2010, following their success in the examination conducted by the Jharkhand Public Service Commission (JPSC Advertisement No. 11 of 2007). Although their preference was for the Jharkhand Police Service, they were allocated to JAS based on merit.

Subsequently, when six posts in the JPS (Deputy Superintendent of Police - Dy.S.P.) remained vacant, the State Government issued a press release on October 8, 2011, inviting selected candidates who had preferred JPS to opt for a shift. The appellants exercised this option and were appointed to the JPS with effect from July 1, 2012.

Their grievance arose when their previous service in JAS was not considered for seniority in JPS. They sought seniority from their initial appointment date (August 12, 2010), which would place them above certain officers, including Manish Toppo (Respondent No. 6), in the JPS seniority lists. Their representation was rejected on June 24, 2019, leading to a writ petition, W.P.(S) No. 821 of 2020, which was dismissed by a learned Single Judge on February 9, 2024. This appeal challenged the Single Judge's order.

Appellants' Contentions

Mr. Ajit Kumar, Senior Advocate for the appellants, argued:

1. The change of cadre was due to a State Government policy decision, thus their previous service should count for seniority as per departmental circulars (specifically Circular No. 15784, dated 26.08.1972).

2. Granting pay protection for past service in JAS implies that the same length of service should also be counted for seniority. 3. They were unfairly placed below reserved category candidates in the JPS seniority list despite having higher marks.

Respondents' Stance

The Advocate General, Mr. Rajiv Ranjan, appearing for the State, countered:

1. The appellants voluntarily opted to relinquish JAS and join JPS. Seniority cannot be reckoned from a date they were not part of the JPS.

2. Granting their request would mean giving seniority from a date they had "not taken birth" in the JPS cadre, a principle well-settled by law.

3. He cited judgments like State of Bihar and Ors. vs. Arbind Jee , (2021) 14 SCC 38 and Ganga Vishan Gujrati and Ors. vs. State of Rajasthan and Ors., (2019) 16 SCC 28 , emphasizing that retrospective seniority cannot be granted from a date an employee was not borne on the cadre. Counsels for private respondents supported the Advocate General's arguments, adding that policy decisions should see minimal judicial interference.

Court's Analysis and Reasoning

The High Court meticulously examined the issues, focusing on whether the appellants' appointment date in JPS could be shifted retrospectively and the implications thereof.

Applicability of Circular Dated 26.08.1972: The Court found that the circular, which allows counting of previous service for seniority if a transfer is due to a government policy decision, was not applicable. It reasoned: > "it is apparent that the appellants and others were given option to join Police service and they exercised their option to join the police service, it cannot be said that it was a policy decision by which appellants were bound to join police service therefore claim of the appellants does not come within the horizon of the Circular of 1972 since they picked willingly to shift their service because vacancies existed but right does not accrue in their favour for claiming their seniority from the date of initial appointment." (Para 33)

The Court distinguished between "service" and "cadre," noting that JAS and JPS are two distinct services (Para 28-30).

" Birth in the Cadre" Principle: The cornerstone of the Court's decision was the established legal principle that seniority cannot be granted from a date when an employee was not part of the service or cadre. > "The birth in the cadre or the service is the paramount consideration for counting the seniority..." (Para 35) The Court cited State of Bihar and Ors. vs. Arbind Jee (supra) , where the Supreme Court held: > "Seniority benefit can accrue only after a person joins service and to say that benefits can be earned retrospectively would be erroneous." (Quoted in Para 35, from Arbind Jee case) Further, relying on Ganga Vishan Gujrati v. State of Rajasthan (supra) and P. Sudhakar Rao v. U. Govinda Rao, (2013) 8 SCC 693 , the Court reiterated: > "no retrospective promotion can be granted nor can any seniority be given on retrospective basis from the date when an employee has not even been born in the cadre particularly when this would adversely affect the direct recruits who have been appointed validly in the meantime." (Para 40)

Pay Protection vs. Seniority: Regarding the argument that pay protection should entail seniority benefits, the Court, referencing Director of School Education v. A.N. Kandaswamy, (1998) 8 SCC 26 , held: > "giving pay protection or counting the said period for pensionary benefit cannot have any concern with the issue of seniority due to the reason that if there will be any disturbance in the seniority then it will have impact upon the other employees... while giving pay protection or counting the period for pensionary benefit will have no impact upon the other public servant..." (Para 44)

Placement with Respect to Reserved Category Candidates: The claim for seniority over reserved category candidates who joined JPS earlier was also dismissed. The Court stated that seniority is determined by the date of entry into service, and since the reserved category candidates in question had joined JPS prior to the appellants, their seniority could not be disturbed (Para 50).

Nisha Murmu 's Case: The Court declined to consider the appellants' comparison with one Nisha Murmu , noting the issue was not raised before the writ court and was factually distinguishable as her case did not involve a shift from another service (Para 54-57).

Decision Upheld

The Division Bench found no infirmity in the learned Single Judge's order, which had correctly applied the principle that: > "...seniority cannot be granted to a person from the date when such person is not born in cadre and the seniority amongst members of the same grade has to be granted from the date of initial entry in the grade." (Para 58)

The Court concluded: > "since learned Single Judge has meticulously examined the aforesaid issue by taking into consideration the settled position of law that regular service cannot be reckoned from a date when the employee was not even borne in the service and seniority amongst members has to be counted from the date of initial entry into the said service, requires no interference by this Court." (Para 59)

Consequently, the appeal was dismissed, confirming that the appellants' seniority in the Jharkhand Police Service will be counted from their date of joining in 2012, not from their earlier appointment in the Jharkhand Administrative Service in 2010.