V SUBRAMANIAN Vs. STATE OF TAMIL NADU

JUDGEMENT

(1.) The Anna University was constituted by an Act of the Legislature of the State of Tamil Nadu by Tamil Nadu Act 30 of 1978. That Act was Gazetted on 24th July, 1978. By Section 36 of that Act, the services of the employees in the institutions and departments mentioned in Schedule-I to that Act were transferred to the new University provided such employees consented for such transfer. By a retrospective amendment to that Act effected by Act 44 of 1979, the consent was dispensed with in respect of persons who were not Government employees. Schedule-I reads as under :

(2.) The services of the appellants herein, who were ministerial employees of the Madras University when this Act came into force were transferred to the new University along with the services of eleven other ministerial staff. The other eleven did not question their transfer. The appellants filed the writ petition from which this appeal has arisen, in February 1981, nearly two years after their transfer to Anna University. The petition was filed by them after the President of the Union which they had formed after their transfer to Anna University, namely Anna University Non-teaching Staff Union, one Era Ganesan who held the office of the President of that Union despite being a lecturer in one of the transferred colleges, had been dismissed by this Court. That writ petition which had been filed by him in the year 1979 was dismissed by a learned single Judge of this Court in the year 1980.

(3.) Nearly twenty five years have passed since the University was formed. Out of the original eleven who filed the writ petition, two have died and most of others have retired and only three of the original petitioners are now in service and they are also about to reach the age of retirement within the next year or two.