IN THE HIGH COURT OF JUDICATURE AT MADRAS DATED : 17.12.2009 CORAM : THE HONOURABLE MR. JUSTICE D.HARIPARANTHAMAN Writ Petition No.3606 of 2007 (T) O.A.No.7178 of 2001 1. D.Vijayalakshmi 2. S.Abraham Anbalagan 3. N.Raguraman 4. S.Ettiyappan 5. G.E.Velu 6. A.Abdul Kareem 7. N.Sampath 8.V.Ramasekara Gupta 9. A.V.Muralidharan 10.D.Gopi 11. S.Joseph Kennedy 12.Sadayappan 13. J.Prabhu 14. P.Imaavaramban 15. K.Kanagarajan 16. G.Miriam Regina 17. A.Wiswanathan 18. T.Raghupathy 19. C.Rudrappa 20. S.Joseph Rathanaswamy 21. D.Ilavarasan 22. S.Mohan ... Petitioners Vs 1. The District Collector Vellore District Vellore – 9. 2. The Personal Assistant to the Collector (PD) Collectorate, Vellore -9. ... Respondents Prayer : This Writ Petition came to be numbered under Article 226 of the Constitution of India by way of transfer of O.A.No.7178 of 2001 from the file of the Tamil Administrative Tribunal with a prayer to issue a Writ of Mandamus to call for the relating to the proceedings of the first respondent made in Na.Ka.No.Pa.Aa.2/12140/2001 dated https://hcservices.ecourts.gov.in/hcservices/ 08.10.2001 and issue appropriate confirmation orders to the applicants herein at the Entry grade I.e. Junior Assistants and consequently direct the respondents to revise and refix the seniority based on the date of confirmation in the entry grade of Junior Assistants as per GO.Ms.No.176 P&AR dated 05.07.1994 and other consequential proceedings such as promotion etc., thereto. For Petitioners : Mr. L.Chandrakumar For Respondents : Mrs.C.K.Vishnupriya Additional Government Pleader ORDER The petitioners were all recruited through Tamil Nadu Public Service Commission vide proceedings bearing letter No.Rc.9149/J/86 dated 27.11.1986 directly as Junior Assistants. Subsequently, they were also promoted as Assistants. In so far as the next avenue of promotion is concerned, it is to that of Extension Officer, which is a non-selection post based strictly on seniority basis in the feeder category. 2. It is stated that the panel of Assistants fit for promotion to Extension Officers was prepared and for the purpose of preparation of such panel, details were sought for from the concerned authorities. But the details of the petitioners were not sought for. On the other hand, the details of the juniors were called for to include them in the panel. The grievance of the petitioners is that since the confirmation order in the Entry Grade was not issued, they were not included in the panel for promotion to the post of Extension Officer. While so, juniors who have received confirmation order are sought to be included in the panel of Extension Officer. 3. In these circumstances, the petitioners filed O.A.No.7178 of 2001 (Writ Petition No.3606 of 2007) for a direction to the first respondent to issue them confirmation orders in the Entry Grade and consequently to include them in the panel for the year 2001-02 of Extension Officer for Vellore District. 4. Heard Mr.L.Chandrasekar, learned the counsel for the petitioners and Mrs. Vishnu Priya, learned Government Advocate for the respondents and the learned Government Advocate argued based on the instructions from the respondent/department. 5. The learned counsel for the petitioners submitted that G.O.Ms.No.176, P&AR Department, dated 05.07.1994 provided for issuance of the confirmation order in the Entry Grade on completion of the period of probation. Paragraph 2 of the said G.O. Ms.No.176, P&AR Department, which is relevant for the purpose of this case is extracted hereunder : https://hcservices.ecourts.gov.in/hcservices/ “The Government after careful consideration have decided to delink confirmation from the availability of permanent vacancies and to make confirmation of Government servants at the entry grade as in the Government of India and to follow the following methods of confirmation. They accordingly issue the following orders:- i)Confirmation should be made only once in the service of an official which will be in the entry grade. ii)Confirmation is delinked from the availability of permanent vacany in the grade. In other words, an officer who has successfully completed the period of his probation may be considered for confirmation. iii)As at present, the appointee should satisfactorily complete the probation. iv)A specific order of confirmation should be issued, when the case is cleared from all angles. v)On promotion: Since there shall be no confirmation on promotion, before an official is declared to have completed the period of his probation satisfactorily (wherever such probation is prescribed), a rigorous screening of his performance should be made and there should be no hesitation to revert a person to the post or grade from which he has promoted if the work of the officer during probation was found to be not satisfactory". 6. The complaint of the petitioners is that, the said G.O.Ms.No.176, P&AR Department, dated 05.07.1994 is not followed in their case and no confirmation order is issued till date in the Entry Grade, though they are promoted as Assistants. Unless the petitioners were issued a confirmation order in the Entry Grade, they could not be placed in the panel when the panel for the year 2001-02 was prepared. The non-issuance of the confirmation order is not the fault on the part of the petitioner but it is for the respondents to issue a confirmation order on completion of the probation. Due to the non issuance of the confirmation order to the petitioners, they were not included in the panel while their juniors were included in the panel in the year 2001-02 of Assistants fit for promotion for Extension Officer and they were promoted. Under these circumstances, the learned counsel for the petitioners fairly submits that the petitioners could be issued confirmation order based on the G.O.Ms.No.176, P&AR Department, dated 05.07.1994 on being satisfied with the conditions prescribed therein. Based on such confirmation orders, the petitioners' names ought to have been included in the panel for promotion for the year 2001-02 at the appropriate places and the consequential orders have to be passed. Under these circumstances, a direction is issued to the first respondent to issue confirmation order in the Entry Grade to petitioners as per G.O.Ms.No.176, P&AR Department, dated 05.07.1994. Consequently, based https://hcservices.ecourts.gov.in/hcservices/ on those confirmation orders, the petitioners' name could be included in the appropriate places in the panel of Assistants fit for promotion for Extension Officer in Vellore District for the year 2001-02 and also to pass consequential order by promoting the petitioners from the date on which their juniors were promoted. It is made clear that such promotions are only on notional basis and the petitioners are entitled to notional benefits only. The respondents are directed to complete the said exercise, within a period of twelve weeks from the date of receipt of copy of this order. With these directions, the Writ Petition is disposed of. No costs. Sd/ Asst.Registrar /true copy/ Sub Asst.Registrar SD To 1. The District Collector Vellore District Vellore – 9. 2. The Personal Assistant to the Collector (PD) Collectorate, Vellore - 9. 1 cc To Mr.L.Chandrakumar, Advocate, SR.69730. 1 cc To The Government Pleader, SR.69540. W. P. No.3606 of 2007 TRM(CO) RVL 05.01.2010 https://hcservices.ecourts.gov.in/hcservices/