ivil Appeal No 2 189 of 1987
From the Judgment and order dated 21st January 1985 of the Madhya Pradesh High Court in Misc
Petition No 1657 of 1984
VA Bobde and DN Mishra for the Appellant
74 TC Sharma for the Respondent
The Judgment of the Court was delivered by SABYASACHI MUKHARJI J
Special leave granted
This is an appeal against the judgment and order of the High Court of Madhya Pradesh which in accordance with the well settled principle of this Court as also the High Court held that in the absence of any statutory rule of executive memorandum or order laying down the rule for determination of seniority in a grade the normal rule applicable would be to determine the seniority on the basis of length in service
Counsel for the appellant contends that in the instant case there were two rules being 12b and 12c of the MP Civil Services General Conditions of Services Rules 1961 governing the case
These rules read as follows b
Promoted Government Servants A promoted Government servant shall count his seniority from the date of his confirmation in the service to which he has been promoted and shall be placed in the gradation list immediately below the last confirmed member of that service but above all the probationers
Provided that where two or more promoted Government servants are confirmed with effect from the same date the appointing authority shall determine their inter se seniority in the service in which they are confirmed with due regard to the order in which they were included in the merit list if any prepared for determining their suitability for promotion and their relative seniority in the lower service from which they have been promoted
c Officiating Government Servants The inter se seniority of Government servants promoted to officiate in a higher service or a higher category of posts shall during the period of their officiation be the same as that in 
their substantive service or grade irrespective of the dates on which they began to officiate in the higher service or grade Provided that 75 i If they were selected for officiation from a list in which A the names of Government servants considered suitable for trial in or promotion to the higher service or grade were arranged in order of merit
Their inter se seniority shall be determined in accordance with the order of merit in such list ii the seniority of a permanent servant appointed to officiate in another service or post by transfer shall be determined adhoc by the appointing authority Provided that the seniority proposed to be assigned to such Government servant shall be determined and intimated to him in the order of appointment C iii where a permanent Government servant is reduced to a lower service grade or category of posts he shall rank in the gradation list of the latter service grade or category of posts above all the other in that gradation list unless the authority ordering such reduction by a special order indicates a different position in the gradation list for such reduced Government servant iv where an officiating Government servant is reverted to this substantive service or posts he shall revert to his position in that gradation list relating to his substantive appointment which he held before he was appointed to officiate in the other service or post In the proper perspective these two rules do not apply in this matter
In that view of the matter we are of the opinion that the High Court was right
We are unable in this connection to sustain the reasoning and the view expressed by the learned Single Judge of the said High Court in Civil Misc
Petition No 181 of 1983 Umeshnaryan Mishra  ors
vs The State of M P  ors
In the aforesaid view of the matter we are of the opinion that the High Court is right in dismissing the petition under appeal and the view it took was correct
In view of the short length of service of the appellant if the appellant makes a representation the respondent in the light of the principles of law and equity will consider such representation
The appeal is disposed of accordingly
SL Appeal disposed of


Summary:
This was an appeal against the judgment and order of the High Court of Madhya Pradesh which in accordance with the well settled principle laid down by this Court as also the High Court held that in the absence of any statutory rule or executive memorandum or order laying down the rule for determination of seniority in a grade the normal rule applicable would be to determine the seniority on the basis of length of service
Disposing of the Appeal the Court HELD Counsel for the appellant contended that there were two rules in the case being Rules 12 b and 12 c of the MP Civil Services General Conditions of Services Rules 1961 which governed the case
In the proper perspective these two rules did not apply in this case
The High Court was right in the view it took in the matter
This Court was unable to sustain the reasoning and view of the Single Judge of the Madhya Pradesh High Court in Umeshnarayan Mishra  ors
vs The State of MP  Ors
in Civil Misc
Petition No 181 of 1983
74C 75F In view of the short length of service of the appellant if the appellant made a representation the respondent would consider the same in the light of the principles of law and equity