A SENTHI KUMAR Vs. PRINCIPAL SECRETARY

JUDGEMENT

(1.) The first writ petition (W.P. No. 26513 of 2010) is filed by 10 persons, who are working in the office of the Commissioner of Civil Supplies and Consumer Protection, Chepauk, seeking to challenge G.O.Ms. No. 27, Finance Department, dated 24.1.2007 and paragraphs 9 and 10 and also G.O.Ms. No. 239, Agriculture Department, dated 14.10.2010 and after setting aside the same insofar as it is against the petitioners, seeks for a direction to the respondents 1 and 6 to prepare the seniority list of Junior Assistants and Assistants from the year 2000 to 2010. In the said writ petition, notice of motion was ordered on 24.11.2010. Pending notice of motion, no interim order was granted in favour of the petitioners. However, one Ranjan and 14 others have filed W.P. No. 12727 of 2012, who are also employed in the very same office, seeking for a direction to the respondents to implement G.O.Ms. No. 239, Agriculture Department, dated 14.10.2010 as well as the consequential proceedings dated 22.10.2010, 21.01.2011 and 21.01.2011 passed by the Commissioner, Department of Civil Supplies and Consumer Protection, so as to treat the petitioners as regular and permanent employees of the department and regularize their services, pay salary to the petitioners as applicable to the permanent regular Government servants in the cadre of Assistants and Junior Assistants and to grant all service and monetary benefits including promotions from the date of the petitioners' entry into the department within a time frame. This writ petition when it came up on 22.04.2012, the learned Government Advocate took notice. Subsequently it was directed to be posted along with the earlier writ petition. Thus both matters were clubbed together and posted before this court by an order of the Hon'ble Chief Justice dated 07.11.2012.

(2.) Heard the arguments of Mr. R. Yashod Vardhan, learned Senior counsel for Mr. P. Solomon Francis, learned counsel for the petitioners in W.P. No. 26513 of 2010, Mr. L.S.M. Hasan Fizal, learned counsel for the petitioners in W.P. No. 12727 of 2012, Mr. P.S. Sivashanmuga Sundaram, learned Additional Government Pleader for official respondents, Mr. M.K. Subramanian, learned Special Government Pleader for the Commissioner, 6th respondent in W.P. No. 26513 of 2010 and 4th respondent in W.P. No. 12727 of 2012, Mr. M. Devendran, learned counsel for the TNPSC and Ms. C. Uma, learned counsel for respondents 8, 12, 19, 27 and 30 in W.P. No. 26513 of 2010.

(3.) It is admitted of the petitioners in W.P. No. 12727 of 2012 that they were all initially employed for the Tamil Nadu Cooperative Oilseeds Growers Federation Ltd. (for short TANCOF). When the TANCOF was wound up, they asked for absorption of their services in the agricultural department as regular Government servants and that they filed a writ petition in W.P. No. 26056 of 2004. The said writ petition was dismissed as not maintainable by an order dated 13.09.2004. Subsequently, the Government had passed a general Government Order with reference to the employees who were appointed in the Public Sector undertakings or in the cooperative institutions and subsequently deputed to an another public sector undertaking or the Government department. The said G.O.Ms. No. 27, Finance (BPE) Department, dated 24.01.2007 had prescribed terms and conditions for permanent absorption. Paragraphs 3(ix) and (x) of the Government Order reads as follows :