Raghunath Rai Bareja And Another vs Punjab National Bank And Others on 6 December, 2006
“A person appointed under these rules shall be entitled to seniority
only from the date of order of appointment after selection in accordance
with these rules and shall, in all cases, be placed below the persons
appointed in accordance with the relevant service rules or as the case
may be, the regular prescribed procedure, prior in the appointment of
such person under these rules.”
Admittedly, the respondents were appointed after a selection under the
Regularization Rules in the year 2004. Hence, in our view, they can get
seniority only from the year 2004 and not from 1988. The rule is clear and
hence we cannot debar from the clear meaning of the rule.
It has been held in Raghunath Rai Bareja & Another vs. Punjab National
Bank & Others (2007) 2 SCC 230 that when there is a conflict between law
and equity, it is the law which has to prevail in accordance with the latin
maxim ‘dura lex sed lex’ which means ‘the law is hard but it is the law’.