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K.JAYACHANDRA REDDY, J. This appeal is directed against the order of the Administrative Tribunal, Bangalore dismiss- ing an application filed by the appellant. The principal question involved is whether SubRule (2) of Rule 3 of Karna- taka Civil Services (General Recruitment) Rules, 1977 ('General Rules' for short) has the overriding effect over the Karnataka General Service (Motor Vehicles Branch) (Recruitment) Rules, 1976 ('Special Rules' for short). For a better appreciation of the question it becomes necessary to state few facts. The appellant was appointed initially as Inspector of Motor' Vehicle and was promoted as Assistant Regional Transport Officer in the year 1976 in which year the Special Rules were framed. In the year 1981 the appellant was promoted as Regional Trans- port Officer. Some of the General Rules of 1977 were amended in the year 1982 and Sub-Rule 2 of Rule 3 was inserted in the said Rules. In the year 1989 the second respondent was promoted as Deputy Commissioner of Transport on seniority- cure-merit basis alone as purported to have been provided in new Rule 3(2) of General Rules. Being aggrieved by the same the appellant filed an Application No. 3155/89 before the Karnataka Administrative Tribunal questioning the promotion of second respondent on the ground that the promotion to the post of Deputy Commissioner of Transport should be by selec- tion from the cadre of Regional Transport Officers and not merely on seniority-cum-merit basis. His application was dismissed by the Tribunal holding that Rule 3(2) of General Rules which was introduced later overrides the earlier Special Rules. It is this order which is questioned in this appeal.

Shri P.P. Rao, learned counsel appearing for the appel- lant contended that the Special Rules are exclusively meant to govern the recruitment and promotion of officers of various cadres of the Motor Vehicle Department and the General Rules which generally regulate the recruitment of all State Civil Services broadly even though later in point of time cannot abrogate the Special Rules and that they are not meant to do so since the Special Rules also are very much in force inasmuch as they are not superseded. Shri P. Chidambaram, learned counsel for the State of Karnataka contended that the non-obstante clause in Rule 3(2) of the General Rules which was introduced later clearly indicate the intention of he Legislature to supersede the Special Rules and promotions from the cadre of Regional Transport Officer to that of Deputy Commissioner of Transport could only be on the basis of seniority-cam-merit and not by election. From the rival contentions it emerges that the real question involved is one of construction of non-ob- stante clause in Rule 3(2) and its fleet on the Special Rules providing for promotion to the post of Deputy -Commis- sioner of Transport by selection from the cadre of Regional Transport Officers.

We shall now refer to the relevant Special and General Rules. The special Rules were framed in exercise of the powers conferred by the proviso to Article 309 of the Con- stitution of India in the year 1976. The special Rules of recruitment for the category of post of Deputy Commissioner of Transport reads thus:

395 
   Category of	     Method of		Minimum
   posts	     recruitment	Qualification
1.		    2.			 3.

Deputy Transport By promotion by Must have put in not Commissioner selection from the less than five years of cadre of Regional service in cadre of Transport Officers Regional Transport Officers."

The Special Rules came into force on or about 10th December, 1976 on the publication of the same in the Karna- taka Gazette (Extraordinary). It consisted of only two Rules- (I) and (II). The first Rule gave the 'title and commencement' and the second Rule dealt with the 'method of recruitment and minimum qualifications'. There was a sched- ule attached to Rule 1I. In the schedule for the post speci- fied in column 1 thereof the method of recruitment and minimum qualification were specified in corresponding en- tries in columns 2 and 3 thereof. It dealt with roughly 35 categories of posts. I may mention that there was only one post, namely the post of Deputy Transport Commissioner for which the method of recruitment was by selection from the cadre of Regional Transport Officers who must have put in not less than five years of service in that cadre.