BALWINDER S. DHILLON vs STATE OF PUNJAB — C.A. No. 2304/1999

Case Summary: Balwinder S. Dhillon v. State of Punjab Outcome: The Supreme Court dismissed the appeal on 21.02.2002. The Court upheld the High Court's decision that inter-se-seniority between two direct recruit Sub-Divisional Engineers is governed by the Punjab Public Service Commission's merit order, not by length of continuous service. The Court rejected the appellant's argument that extended probation should delay seniority reckoning. Key Ruling: Rule 13's proviso establishes that direct recruits' seniority follows commission-determined merit order and cannot be disturbed, regardless of probation extensions. No further directions were issued. This case analysis is maintained by casestatus.in based on publicly available court records.