K DHEENADHAYALAN Vs. STATE OF TAMIL NADU

JUDGEMENT

(1.) The Tamil Nadu Commercial Taxes Service consists of a hierarchy of posts. At the base lies the post of Joint Commercial Tax Officer, above it is the post of Commercial Tax Officer, then of Assistant Commissioner, thereafter of Deputy Commissioner and finally there is the post of Selection Grade Deputy Commissioner. The service is governed by the Special Rules for the Tamil Nadu Commercial Taxes Service (the "special Rules"). Recruitment to the juniormost post, the Joint Commercial Tax Officer, is made by (i) direct recruitment and (ii) recruitment bytransfer from Deputy Commercial Tax Officers in the State Commercial Taxes Subordinate Service. Permanent vacancies in the posts of Joint Commercial Tax Officer are filled by direct recruitment and by "transfer" recruitment in the proportion 1:2. The higher posts are filled by promotion from officers in the category of posts immediately below. Under Rule 2 (b) of the Special Rules all promotions are to be made on the grounds of merit and ability, seniority being considered only where merit and ability are equal. Rule 5 (c) provides that every person appointed as a Joint Commercial Tax Officer must be on probation for at least two years on duty; in the case of direct recruitment the probationary period commences from the date on which the officer completes his training, and in the case of recruitment by transfer it commences from the date the officer joins duty. Under Rule 7 (b) the period of training of a direct recruit does not count towards probation.

(2.) The petitioner was recruited to the cadre of Joint Commercial Tax Officers as a direct recruit in 1966, and was posted for training which he joined on 6/06/1966 ; thereafter he completed the probationary period of two years. On 16/08/1972 the petitioner was promoted to the post of Commercial Tax Officer. The second respondent was promoted as Commercial Tax Officer on 17/12/1972.

(3.) Promotion to the next higher category of posts, the Assistant Commissioners, followed. The petitioner was promoted as Assistant Commissioner on 14/01/1976 while the second respondent was promoted on 26/08/1976.