' ABDUL QADIR CHAUDHARY, J.---This appeal by leave of the Court is directed against the judgment of the Federal Service Tribunal, dated 30-7-1990.
2. The facts of the case are that the respondent No,, 1 an officer of the Accounts Group was promoted to Grade-20 on 27-4-1979. He was appointed as Joint Secretary in BPS-20 in the Secretariat Group on 12-8-1981. The case of the appellant is that the seniority of the respondent No,, 1 was to be reckoned from the date of his notification in the Secretariat Group on 12-8-1981. On 6- 12-1988, a letter was addressed to the respondent which reads as follows:-- "Government of Pakistan, Cabinet Secretariat, (Establishment Division).
' Rawalpindi, dated 6th December, 1988.
' Subject: INJUNCTION AS JOINT SECRETARY IN THE SECRETARIAT GROUP--OFFER OF APPOINTMENT.
' The undersigned is directed to state that the competent Authority has been pleased to approve Group with effect from the date you started officiating as Joint Secretary. On induction you will reckon seniority from the date of your appointment as regular Joint Secretary.
2. Please intimate within 15 days of receipt of this communication, if this offer is acceptable to you.
Conditional acceptance will not be entertained."
3. The respondent No,, I communicated his acceptance by means of a letter which is reproduced below:-- "4. In view of the decision of the competent Authority to approve my induction as Joint Secretary in the Secretariat Group with effect from 12th August, 1981 the date from which I started officiating as Joint Secretary I accept the offer to be inducted and assigned seniority as Joint Secretary in the Secretariat Group from that date i,e, 12-8-1981."
4. After the acceptance of the offer, the seniority of the respondent No,,1 was determined vis-a-vis the other members of the Secretariat Group with effect from the date of his induction i,e, 12-8-1981.
5. The respondent No,, 1 made a grievance to the departmental Authority that his seniority should be reckoned from the date of his promotion to Grade-20 and not from the date of his appointment to the Secretariat Group. The respondent No,, 1 having failed to get any reply from the authorities, filed an appeal before the Service Tribunal. The learned Service Tribunal accepted the appeal and held that the seniority of the respondent No,, 1 should be determined from 24-7-1979.
6. Learned counsel for the appellant submitted that the respondent No,,1 had exercised his option unconditionally, therefore, the departmental authority has rightly determined his seniority with effect from 12-8-1981. The acceptance of the offer made by the respondent No,,1 was in the nature of a contract as such the contract was binding on respondent No,,
1. This contention has no force.
The respondent No,,1 is a civil servant. By the exigency of service he was transferred to the Secretariat Group. No offer was made to the respondent No,, I at the time of his induction in the Secretariat Group. After the lapse of seven years a letter was addressed to the respondent No,,1 calling upon him to accept the offer. In spite of the fact that the respondent No,,1 had accepted the offer but such an offer has to be considered in the light of the law and the rules applicable in the instant case. The Secretariat Group was established on 27-1-1975. This group comprised the posts of Deputy Secretary and above in the Federal Secretariat and such posts in the Provincial Secretariat as were born on the cadre of All Pakistan Unified Grades. The appointment to the post of Joint Secretary was to be made by the horizontal movement of such Grade-20 officers of various occupational groups as were recommended by the Ministries/Divisions, Departments, Provincial Governments etc. The transfer of respondent No,, 1 was not qualified with any condition. It is also not the case of the appellant that the respondent No,, 1 could not be transferred to the Secretariat Group. In fact, he was absorbed in this group but his seniority was reckoned with effect from 18-12-1981. However, the decision of the Tribunal that his seniority should be reckoned with effect from 24-7-1979 when he was promoted to Grade-20 is not open to any exception. Section 8(4) of the Civil Servants Act, 1973, provides that "Seniority in a post, service or cadre to which a civil servant is promoted shall take effect from the date of regular appointment to that post". This provision was amended by Ordinance III of 1984 gazette on 22-1-1984. According to section 1(3), it shall come into force at once and shall be deemed to have taken effect with effect from the first day of July, 1983. After the amendment, the word "Grade" was substituted by the word "Post" but as the respondent No,,1 was already promoted to Grade-20 on 24-7-1979 and transferred to the Secretariat Group on 12-8-1981 this amendment will not affect his rights. We may also refer to Serial NO. 19 at page 1096 of the ESTACODE 1989. Paragraph 9 (at page 1098) provides that "the seniority of a Joint Secretary which is a post in Grade-20 will be determined from the date of his continuous regular officiator in Grade-20". Therefore, the appointment of respondent No,, 1 in the Secretariat Group is immaterial. The same principle has been laid down in Serial No,, 21 at page 1099 (ibid) which lays down that "the seniority of a Joint Secretary which is a post in Grade-20 will be determined from the date of his continuous regular officiator in Grade-20". These provisions do not leave any doubt about the fixation of seniority of the respondent No,,1 . This Court in Muhammad Yusuf Chauhan v. Sarfraz Khan Jadoon (PLD 1991 SC 514) has observed that "the appointment rules as well as the Civil Servants Act provides transfer as one of the modes of appointment to a post.
But none of these makes any rules with regard to seniority on such transfer. The only rule in existence is with regard to the seniority in a grade and it commences on regular entry into that grade".
7. For the aforesaid reasons, this appeal has no force. The same is dismissed.