LIVE LAW NEWS, Aug 1, 2021 : Seniority-­cum-­merit means that given the minimum necessary merit requisite for efficiency of administration, the senior though the less meritorious shall have priority, the Supreme Court reiterated in a judgment delivered this week.

In this case, the appellants were promoted to the post of Leading Fireman under the Bhakra Beas Management Board Class ­III and Class­ IV Employees (Recruitment and Conditions of Service) Regulations, 1994. Their promotions were annulled by the High Court while allowing a writ petition filed by another employee who was junior to then. The court held them to be ineligible for promotion under the Regulations.

In appeal, the bench noted that the relevant Regulations provide that appointment by promotion is to be made by selection based on seniority ­cum ­merit and no employee is entitled to appointment as a matter of right.

In this regard, the court noted the judgments In B.V. Sivaiah and Ors. vs. K. Addankl Babu and Ors., (1998) 6 SCC 72, wherein it was observed thus: 

18. "We thus arrive at the conclusion that the criterion of "seniority ­cum ­merit" in the matter of promotion postulates that given the minimum necessary merit requisite for efficiency of administration, the senior, even though less meritorious, shall have priority and a comparative assessment of merit is not required to be made. For assessing the minimum necessary merit, the competent authority can lay down the minimum standard that is required and also prescribe the mode of assessment of merit of the employee who is eligible for consideration for promotion. Such assessment can be made by assigning marks on the basis of appraisal of performance on the basis of service record and interview and prescribing the minimum marks which would entitle a person to be promoted on the basis of seniority ­cum ­merit."