DESOOLA RAMA RAO & ANR. vs STATE OF ANDHRA PRADESH & ORS.

The Supreme Court held that in the absence of specific rules regarding inter-se seniority between promotees and direct recruits, length of service is the determining factor. The Court clarified that Rule 5 of the Andhra Pradesh (Roads and Buildings) Engineering Service Special Rules, 1967 does not provide preference to either category for promotion. The Court upheld the State Government's decision that seniority should be based on the date of first appointment, confirming that the respondents had longer service and thus ranked above the appellants for promotion to Executive Engineer.