Summary
The Court rejected a compassionate appointee’s claim to seniority from roughly a decade before he entered service. The earlier Supreme Court direction required appointment within a month but conferred no retrospective benefit. He accepted appointment and waited six years to seek backdated seniority, which would displace existing employees. The Court distinguished cases of diligent candidates wrongly excluded from a common selection process, where notional seniority may be appropriate. The High Court orders granting relief were set aside.
Issues
- Whether the earlier appointment direction authorised seniority from the date of an unimplemented recommendation.
- Whether delayed entry on compassionate grounds justified retrospective seniority against existing employees.
Held
- The original shortlist was conditional and did not result in appointment. The subsequent Supreme Court direction required appointment within a specified period, without granting retrospective effect. The High Court should not have extended it to confer seniority for the earlier period. (¶¶ 2, 3, 4, 8, 9)
- Ordinarily seniority cannot begin before entry into the cadre. Retrospective seniority requires an applicable rule or judicial direction and must account for the interests of employees already serving. Here the State’s fixation from actual entry was lawful. (¶¶ 10, 11, 12, 14)
- The appointee accepted his appointment and raised the retrospective claim only six years later. His compassionate appointment was distinguishable from a common competitive selection in which an arbitrarily excluded candidate diligently pursues equivalent appointment and notional seniority. The Court preserved that possibility in appropriate cases. (¶¶ 8, 9, 13, 14)
- The High Court’s grant of retrospective seniority was set aside and the State’s appeal allowed, with parties bearing their own costs. The compassionate appointment itself was not disturbed. (¶¶ 12, 15)
Result
State’s appeal allowed. High Court orders granting retrospective seniority quashed; parties to bear their own costs.