Jharkhand: In a big blow to the state government, the High Court has canceled the order to reduce the seniority of Jharkhand Administrative Service (JAS) officer Radheshyam Prasad. The court of Justice Deepak Roshan said that this order of the government is legally wrong and the original preference should be restored. According to the case, Radheshyam Prasad’s cadre transfer was done from Bihar to Jharkhand in the year 2006. At that time there was no condition of losing seniority in the transfer agreed between the two states. Despite this, in the year 2008, the Jharkhand government made a policy, which said that the employees coming on mutual transfer will be placed at the bottom of their batch. The High Court clarified that this policy cannot be applied to cases older than 2006. The court also said that any change in any service condition which is detrimental to the employee cannot be implemented without the prior permission of the Central Government, as provided in the Bihar Reorganization Act 2000. The court also canceled the order issued by the government on September 23, 2024 and the final seniority list dated December 16, 2024. Under these orders, the seniority of Radheshyam Prasad was reduced from 835-B to 877-D. The court directed that Radheshyam Prasad’s original seniority of 835-B be restored and all consequential benefits be given to him. The case originated from a 2006 cadre transfer, when Radheshyam Prasad and another employee exchanged Bihar and Jharkhand cadres with mutual consent. After this he got Jharkhand cadre and was kept in service without any seniority condition. Over time, he also got promotion to the post of Joint Secretary in 2011, 2016 and 2023. But in 2024, the government reduced his rank citing old rules, against which he filed a petition in the High Court. After the hearing, the court canceled the government order considering it wrong. This decision is being considered an important precedent in matters related to administrative service rules and cadre transfe
Major decision in JAS officer Radheshyam case
