- (1.) This court in A. N. Sehgal and Ors. v. Raje Ram Sheoran and others, 1992 Supp (1 SCC 304, while interpreting the haryana Service of Engineers, Class I, PWD (Roads and Buildings Branch) Rules, 1960, held that:- "On a conjoint reading of Rules 12 (3 and 12 (5 it is clear that the year of allotment of the Assistant Executive Engineer in the post of Executive Engineer, shall be the calendar year in which the order of appointment as Assistant Executive Engineer had been made. Thus his seniority as Executive Engineer, by fiction of law, would relate back to his date of initial appointment as Assistant Executive Engineer and in juxtaposition to Class II officers' seniority as Executive Engineer is unalterable. The date of the seniority of Mr. R. R. Sheoran thus shall be 30/08/1971. His seniority as Executive Engineer shall accordingly be reckoned. "
(2.) While Mr. R. S. Sheoran's seniority as Executive Engineer has determined as above, with effect from 30/08/1971. as regards the promotees, this court held that :- "A reading thereof clearly manifests the legislative animation, namely, that the promotees from Class II service shall not, exceed 50 percent of the posts in the service. The word 'shall' indicates that it is mandatory that the remaining 50 per cent shall be kept open only to the Assistant Executive Engineers who were directly recruited but later were found eligible and fit for promotion as Executive Engineers. "
(3.) In para 21 of the judgment, as to what a combined reading of Rule 5 (2 read with Rule 12 (6 and the operation of sub rules (3 to (5 of Rule 12 would bring about was made clear, namely, "the direct recruit is a member of the service of Executive Engineer from the date of year of allotment as an Assistant Executive Engineerthe result was that the promotee occupying the post within 50% quota of the direct recruits acquired no right to the post and should yield place to the direct recruit, though promoted later to him, to the senior scale posts, i. e. Executive Engineer, superintending Engineer and Chief Engineer. ";