NYADAR SINGH & ANR. vs UNION OF INDIA & ORS.

The Supreme Court held that under Article 311(2) of the Constitution of India, a government servant cannot be reduced in rank to a post lower than the one to which they were directly recruited as a penalty. The Court clarified that 'reduction in rank' refers to the stratification of posts and not merely to seniority within the same class. The penalty imposed on the appellants, Nyadar Singh and M.J. Ninama, was deemed to effectively remove them from their higher posts, thus affecting the recruitment policy. The Court upheld the interpretation of Rule 11 of the Central Civil Services (Classification, Control and Appeal) Rules, 1966, emphasizing that statutory language must be harmonized with established legal principles.