State Of U.P. And Anr vs Dinkar Sinha

The Supreme Court addressed the issue of seniority for demobilized officers in the U.P. Police Service under the U.P. Police Service Rules, 1942 and the U.P. Non Technical (Class-II) Services (Reservation of Vacancies for the Demobilized Officers) Rules, 1968. It held that seniority should be determined based on the date of appointment in a substantive capacity as per Rule 21 of the 1942 Rules, and that demobilized officers are entitled to seniority only from their second opportunity of recruitment as per Rule 4 of the 1968 Rules. The Court upheld the High Court's decision regarding the interpretation of these rules, affirming the legal fiction created for demobilized officers' seniority.