SARASWATHI NARAYANAN COLLEGE Vs. GOVERNMENT OF TAMIL NADU

JUDGEMENT

(1.) THE petitioner is aggrieved against the order of second respondent, dated 23.12.1993, whereby, certain general instructions were issued to all the Government as well as Private Aided Colleges in respect of signing of the attendance register by teaching staff.

(2.) THE case of the petitioner is that it is an aided institution, established in the year 1966 and is offering U.G. and P.G. courses in Arts and Science subjects. The petitioner college also conducts self-financing courses, apart from the courses, to which, the Government aid is granted. 61 teaching staff and 29 non-teaching staff are employed in the petitioner college, in respect of courses which are fully aided by the State Government. Besides, 20 number of teaching staff and three members of non-teaching staff are working under the self-financing scheme. From the inception of the petitioner college, the teaching and non-teaching staff were signing twice in the attendance register everyday, once in the morning before starting college and another at the time of closing the working hours of the day. The second respondent through a Circular in R.C.No.32889/B4/93, dated 22.05.1993, issued certain guidelines regarding the maintenance of staff attendance register. In the said circular, the second respondent instructed the teaching and non-teaching staff to sign the attendance register twice daily. Thereafter, the second respondent issued another circular in R.C.No.32889/P4/93, dated 25.06.1993, whereby, he had withdrawn the earlier direction and directed the colleges to follow the then existed procedure. The petitioner college followed the pattern of signing the attendance register twice from its inception and continued the very same procedure, even after the circular dated 25.06.1993. Thereafter, the second respondent issued another circular in Na.Ka.No.34268/jp1/93, dated 23.12.1993, and informed that it is enough for the staff to sign the attendance register once a day. Despite the said circular issued by the second respondent, all the teaching staffs of the petitioner college continued to sign twice a day. However, as some of the teaching staff started signing the attendance register only once from August 2007, the petitioner is left with no option except to challenge the said circular, dated 23.12.1993, in this writ petition. The main contention of the petitioner college in this writ petition is that the second respondent has got no jurisdiction to issue the impugned circular, as it violates Section 14(b) of the Tamil Nadu Private Colleges Regulations Act. It is their further contention that the impugned circular takes away the right of the college committee to have its own code of conduct.

(3.) HEARD the learned counsel for petitioner as well as respondents.