D SERALATHAN Vs. STATE OF TAMIL NADU

JUDGEMENT

(1.) THIS writ petition is for direction against the respondents to promote the petitioners to the post of Lecturers.

(2.) THE petitioners are working in the third respondent Polytechnic College, out of whom the first petitioner D.Seralathan, who was appointed on 09.12.1991 is working as Workshop Instructor/Mechanical Engineer, K.Srenevasan who was appointed on 02.01.1995, is working as Workshop Instructor/Production Engineer, R.Kamalaveni, who was appointed on 01.04.1990, is working as Workshop Instructor/EEE and P.Marisami, who was appointed on 02.01.1995, is working as Junior Drafting Officer/Mechanical Engineer. 2(a). It is stated that all the petitioners possess B.E. qualification and the 1st and 5th petitioner have completed their Master Degree and others are doing their Master Degree course. It is stated that the petitioners when originally appointed in the third respondent College, they were sponsored through Employment Exchange and their appointment was approved by the Director of Technical Education, Chennai. THE post of Workshop Instructors/Junior Drafting Officers is governed by the Tamil Nadu Technical Educational Subordinate Services Rules and their next avenue of promotion is Instructor/Lecturer in the teaching cadre. 2(b). In G.O.Ms.1364 Education Department dated 16.8.1988, by way of amendment to the Special Rules for the Tamil Nadu Technical Education Subordinate Services, the cadre of Workshop Instructor/Draftsman was included as feeder category for promotion to the post of Instructor (teaching cadre), if the candidate possesses Diploma in the respective branch of Engineering relating to the posts concerned with service for a period not less than 2 years. Based on that, persons working as Workshop Instructors/Junior Drafting Officers were promoted to the posts of Instructor and the said benefit continued until the Government passed G.O.Ms.No.1081 Education (J1) Department dated 19.8.1989. 2(c). Under the said Government Order, the Government decided to discontinue the recruitment to Instructor cadre in Polytechnic and Special Diploma Institutions. In the said G.O., it is stated that the existing instructors shall be promoted as Associate lecturers as and when they acquire the required degree qualifications. However, there was no discussion in the said Government Order about the Workshop Instructors/Junior Drafting Officers, whose next avenue of promotion was the post of Instructors. 2(d). As per the said Government Order, the promotion opportunities of the incumbents as Instructors/Associate Lecturers holding the post as on 19.8.1989 have been directed to continue irrespective of the class obtained in B.E. degree examination. Similarly, the Instructors or Associate Lecturers with Diploma qualification holding the post as on 19.8.1989 were also made eligible for the post of Associate Lecturer and Lecturer as and when they acquire B.E. degree qualification irrespective of class obtained in the said degree. Subsequently, the post of Associate Lecturer in Polytechnics were redesignated as Lecturer and the ad hoc rules were issued in G.O.Ms.No.597, Higher Education Department dated 1.12.1997. 2(e). As per the Government Order for the post of Lecturer, the recruitment is by direct recruitment or recruitment by transfer from the category of Tamil Nadu Technical Education Subordinate Services and for that, the qualification is first class in Bachelor degree in the branch of Engineering relating to the post concerned. However, by G.O.Ms.No.119 Higher Education (C2) Department dated 26.3.1999, a concession was granted to the Instructors who were appointed after 19.8.1989 but before 1.12.1997 with Bachelor degree/Post Graduate degree qualification irrespective of the class obtained by them and they were directed to be promoted as and when vacancy arose in the normal course and that those Instructors who were in service as on 19.08.1989 with diploma qualification would become eligible for appointment to the post of Lecturer as and when they acquire B.E. Degree. 2(f). Since the posts of Instructors were redesignated as Lecturers, according to the petitioners, the posts of Instructors were also to be considered as feeder cadre to the posts of Lecturers and since the Instructor post has been merged with Lecturers, the feeder categories to the Instructor posts viz., Junior Drafting Officer or Workshop Instructors are next in line for the promotion to the post of Lecturer and by discontinuing the recruitment to the post of Instructors, there is stagnation in the post of Workshop Instructors and Junior Drafting Officers in non-teaching category. 2(g). THE petitioners made representation on 06.12.2006 to the respondents to issue suitable orders and the said representation was not considered and therefore, the present writ petition has been filed on various grounds including that as per G.O.Ms.1364 dated 16.08.1988 the posts of Workshop Instructors/Junior Drafting Officers were included for promotion to the post of Instructor (Teaching Cadre) and as per G.O.1081 dated 19.08.1989 it is only the recruitment to the post of Instructors alone was directed to be discontinued by giving protection to the existing Instructors. 2(h) By promoting those working as Instructors, they were redesignated as Lecturers by G.O.Ms.No.119 dated 26.3.1999. According to the petitioners, the posts of Instructors got absorbed into the post of Associate Lecturers, which were subsequently redesignated as Lecturers. THErefore the posts in feeder categories to the post of Instructor have to be considered as feeder categories to the post of Lecturer and the petitioners possess necessary qualifications for the post of Lecturer and there is a long time stagnation.

(3.) MS.Arulmozhi, learned counsel for the petitioners would submit that pending the above said writ petition, some of the similarly placed Workshop Instructors in aided polytechnics filed writ petitions seeking direction not to give effect to G.O.MS.No.1081 Education (J1) Department dated 19.08.1989 and final order was passed on 10.9.2004 directing to consider the Workshop Instructors to the post of Instructors, de hors G.O.MS.No.1081 Education (J1) Department dated 19.08.1989 and that decision was followed in a series of writ petitions and ultimately the said decision was upheld by the Division Bench of this Court in the judgment dated 1.8.2007 and as per the order of the High Court, the first respondent has promoted the Workshop Instructors/Junior Drafting Officers by implementing the same. It is also stated that in Tamil Nadu Technical Education Subordinate Service Rules framed under Article 309 of the Constitution of India vide G.O.220 Higher Education (B1) Department dated 6.7.2009, the post of Instructor (Engineering) in Polytechnics and special institutions remain as class I in the annexure to Rule 9 of the Special Rules and the method of appointment is prescribed including the direct recruitment and promotion and therefore, according to the learned counsel for the petitioners, by virtue of the implementation of the Division Bench judgment, the executive instructions in G.O.MS.No.1081 dated 19.8.1989 cannot stand in pursuance of the rules framed in G.O.MS.1364 Education Department dated 16.8.1988.