Suresh Chandra Jha vs State Of Bihar & Ors

The Supreme Court held that in the absence of specific rules governing seniority in appointments under the Bihar Private Engineering College Control Act, 1990, merit as per the rank list should prevail over the date of joining. The Court found that the Division Bench of the Patna High Court erred in prioritizing the date of joining over the merit list, which ranked the appellant higher than the respondent. Consequently, the Court set aside the Division Bench's judgment and upheld the Single Judge's decision that favored the appellant's claim for seniority based on merit.