Supreme Court of India· 18 August 2026
Under the Punjab Service of Engineers, Class II, P.W.D. (Buildings and Roads Branch) Rules, 1965, do shortage of officers and accrual of vacancies amount to ‘special circumstances’ under Rule 10?
HEMANT KUMAR & ORS v. STATE OF HARYANA
2026 INSC 878 · Special Leave Petition (C) Nos. 12017-12018 of 2023
Coram: Ujjal Bhuyan; Manoj Misra
Answer
No. ‘Special circumstances’ is not a defined expression in the 1965 Rules, so the popular parlance test applies: it means something which is more than normal or routine. Accrual of vacancies in a cadre is a routine phenomenon and not something unusual or abnormal, and shortage of officers in a department cannot be construed to be a ‘special circumstance’. Rule 10 is meant for a special situation — an exigency of public service which cannot wait for direct recruitment or promotion, as where specialised hands or persons with certain specific qualifications or talent or skill are required.
Headnote
Punjab Service of Engineers, Class II, P.W.D. (Buildings and Roads Branch) Rules, 1965 — rr.2(9), 6, 9, 10, 12(5) — Deputation — Appointment by transfer — ‘Special circumstances’ — Illegality — Repatriation —
Service jurisprudence — Deputation — Consensus of three stakeholders — No right to claim absorption —
Held: Deputation requires a consensus between the parent department, the borrowing department and the officer/employee concerned, and is resorted to for exigencies of public service. Being by its very nature temporary, it gives a deputationist no right to claim absorption unless the rules of the borrowing department provide for such absorption. (¶53)
1965 Rules — r.10 — Appointment by transfer — Meaning of ‘special circumstances’ —
Held further: ‘Special circumstances’ means something more than normal or routine. Accrual of vacancies in a cadre is a routine phenomenon, and shortage of officers in a department cannot be construed to be a ‘special circumstance’ warranting appointment by transfer. (¶92, 108)
1965 Rules — rr.2(9), 6, 9 — Transfer against a vacancy earmarked for direct recruitment —
Held further: Rule 6 provides only two modes of recruitment, 50 percent by direct recruitment and 50 percent by promotion, and Rule 9 specifically excludes appointment by transfer. Absorption against a vacancy earmarked for direct recruitment is contrary to the 1965 Rules. (¶89)
Service jurisprudence — Illegality distinct and different from irregularity — No regularization by lapse of time —
Held further: Illegality is wrong right from the inception and void ab initio; it cannot be cured by lapse of time nor regularized by taking a sympathetic view on the ground of long continuance in service. Absorption quashed, repatriation directed; appeals disposed of. (¶115, 117)
In the Court's own words
Paragraph 92‘Special circumstances’ in our understanding means something which is more than normal or routine. Accrual of vacancies in a cadre is a routine phenomenon; this is not something which is unusual or abnormal. The so-called stay was not granted by the High Court but was a statement made by the State before the High Court. These circumstances cannot be termed as special within the meaning of Rule 10. We will analyse ‘special circumstances’ more in detail a little later. Therefore, the absorption of Shri Pradeep Atri in the PW(B&R) Department, styled as appointment by transfer, is contrary to Rule 10 of the 1965 Rules and cannot be sustained. Considering the manner in which Shri Atri came on deputation to the PW(B&R) Department and thereafter came to be absorbed is a clear case of backdoor entry. We may also mention that neither did Shri Pradeep Atri satisfactorily complete his probation in his parent Department i.e. in the Development and Panchayat Department nor could he complete such probation upon deputation before absorption in the PW(B&R) Department. Without satisfactorily completing his probation period, he successfully managed to get himself absorbed in the PW(B&R) Department. At this stage, it may be pointed out that in the recruitment process, which was undertaken by the Haryana Staff Selection Commission on the requisition of the PW(B&R) Department for direct recruitment to the post of Sub-Divisional Engineer (Civil)/Assistant Engineer (Civil) pursuant to the advertisement dated 07.05.2006, Shri Pradeep Atri had participated but was unsuccessful; he did not qualify. After he had failed in the direct recruitment process, he managed to get appointment in the same post in the said Department by such absorption, thus achieving indirectly what he could not achieve directly.
Paragraph 108‘Special circumstances’ is not a defined expression in so far as the 1965 Rules are concerned. Therefore, we have to fall back upon the popular parlance test. In paragraph 92 above, we have already stated that ‘special circumstances’ would mean something which is more than normal or routine. P. Ramanatha Aiyar’s Advanced Law Lexicon, 6th Edition, defines ‘special’ to mean designed for a particular purpose; exceptional in character, quality or degree; appointed or employed for a particular purpose or occasion, relating to a single thing. Concise Oxford Dictionary has explained the word ‘special’ to mean out of the ordinary, peculiar or specific and not general.
Acts & Sections
r.10 Punjab Service of Engineers, Class II, P.W.D. (Buildings and Roads Branch) Rules, 1965r.6 Punjab Service of Engineers, Class II, P.W.D. (Buildings and Roads Branch) Rules, 1965r.9 Punjab Service of Engineers, Class II, P.W.D. (Buildings and Roads Branch) Rules, 1965r.2(9) Punjab Service of Engineers, Class II, P.W.D. (Buildings and Roads Branch) Rules, 1965r.12(5) Punjab Service of Engineers, Class II, P.W.D. (Buildings and Roads Branch) Rules, 1965Article 309 Constitution of IndiaOne judgment a day. That's the whole habit.
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