SK NAUSAD RAHAMAN vs UNION OF INDIA — C.A. No. 1243/2022

Summary of SK Nausad Rahaman v. Union of India (C.A. No. 001243/2022) Court Decision: The Supreme Court upheld the High Court of Kerala's judgment, rejecting appellants' challenge to the 2018 CBIC circular withdrawing Inter-Commissionerate Transfers (ICTs) for Central Excise and Customs Inspectors after new Recruitment Rules 2016 came into force. Key Reasoning: Rule 5 of RR 2016 mandates separate cadres for each Cadre Controlling Authority, and Rule 4(ii) of the prior RR 2002—which explicitly permitted ICTs—was notably omitted. The absence of an enabling provision for absorption from external cadres means administrative instructions cannot override the statutory rules, as rules made under Article 309 prevail over executive instructions. Constitutional Note: While upholding the ban, the Court acknowledged substantive equality concerns for women (spousal postings) and disabled persons, directing the Board to revisit the policy to accommodate such cases within constitutional parameters of Articles 14, 15, 16, and 21. This case analysis is maintained by casestatus.in based on publicly available court records.