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Appeal No. 36 of 1977, decided on 7th July, 1979.

‑‑‑‑ S. 4 read with Sind Civil Servants Act (XIV of 1973), Ss. 3 & 8 and Sind Service Tribunal (Procedure) Rules, 1974, r. 23‑‑Senio rity‑Not one of terms and conditions of service hence not a vested right and cannot be agitated before Service Tribunal‑‑Jurisdiction of Service Tribunal‑‑Not invokable to claim particular seniority.

This appeal has been filed under section 4 of the Sind Service Tribunals Act, 1973, claiming seniority against respondents.

At the outset it may be pointed out that section 3 of the Sind Civil Servants Act, Sind Act, No. XIV of 1973, date d 5th December, 1973 lays down that the terms and conditions of service of a civil servant shall be as provided in this Act and the rules. So section 8 of the Act is decisive with regard to the maintainability of the appeal relating to seniority. This section reads as under :‑‑‑

8.‑(1) For proper administration of a service, cadre or grade, the appointing authority shall cause a seniority list of the members for the time being of such service, cadre or grade to be prepared, but nothing herein contained shall be construed to confer any vested right to a particular seniority in such service, cadre or grade, as the case may be.

(2) Subject to the provisions of subsection (1), the seniority of a civil servant shall be reckoned in relation to other civil servants belonging to the same service or grade, whether serving in the same depart ment or office or not, as may be prescribed.

(3) Seniority on initial appointment to a service, grade or post shall be determined as may be prescribed.

(4) Seniority in the grade to which a civil, servant is promoted shall take effect from the date of regular appointment to a post in that grade:

Provided that civil servants who are selected for promotion to a higher grade in one batch shall, on their promotion to the higher grade, retain their inter se seniority as in the lower grade.

Although according to the aforesaid section it is incumbent upon the administration to prepare the seniority list but at the same time this section lays down that this does not confer any vested right to a particular seniority in such a service, cadre or grade as the case may be. Thus the vested right with regard to seniority has not been conferred or in other words any such right has been taken away. So the seniority is not one of the terms and conditions of service. Consequently a civil servant can not invoke the jurisdiction of this Tribunal to vindicate or establish anything which is not a right. It therefore, follows that by virtue of the aforesaid section the jurisdiction of this Tribunal is barred and no appeal lies under section 4 of the Sind Service Tribunals Act, 1973. In this con nection reference may also be made to rule 23 of the Sind Service Tribunal (Procedure) Rules, 1974 which empowers the full bench of the Tribunal or some of the Members of the Tribunal to decide certain appeals but is pertinent to note that in this rule the word "seniority" nowhere appears. Thus it is plain enough that the Legislature never intended that the question or seniority be agitated before this Tribunal.

In result the appeal is summarily dismissed.

Appeal dismissed.

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