Law:

Section:

(On appeal from the judgment and order of the High Court of West Pakistan, Karachi Bench, Karachi, dated the 18th December 1958, 15th April 1959, in Writ Petition No. 391 of 1957).   (a) Ministerial Establishment Rules (Centre)------   ----r. 1, cl. (c)-- Office memorandum dated 15th March 1948, para. 5-Whether instructions contained in Memorandum may be treated as statutory rules-Fixing of seniority of Government servant-Whether solely a matter for Administrative Authorities-Service "continuous" but in different Department-Application of para. 5, Office Memorandum dated 15th March 1948.   Office instructions being manifold in their scope and designed and expressed to be used as guidance for the conduct of the affairs of each Department, it should be plain that on such instructions no legal right can be founded. On the other hand, a statutory rule has certain visible characteristics which must be looked for and cannot be dispensed with, when the question arises of claiming upon the basis of such rule, a right in law. A rule requires to be expressed with precision and yet to possess generality so as to be capable of application to a large number of cases. If it leaves scope for discretion, that should be expressly provided for. Ordinarily, it is necessary also that the making and promulgation of a rule should be attended by certain formalities e.g., publication in a Government gazette. It is not enough that there is no express rule relating to a point to confer upon any existing office instruction that there maybe the status and validity of a statutory rule.   In clause (c) of rule 1 of the ministerial Establishment Rules, there is found a provision by which the Rules are made subject to orders contained in four Office Memoranda issued by the Home Department of the Government of India in 1931, 1934 and 1936, and it is said that this condition will continue "for so long as those orders or any portion of them remain operative." These Office Memoranda are printed as appendices to the Rules. A perusal will show that in many respects they possess the same characteristics as appear in the Pakistan Office Memorandum of the 15th…