M SENTHILKUMAR Vs. SECRETARY

JUDGEMENT

(1.) The writ petitioners have approached this Court, seeking the following relief:

(2.) Since common issues and grounds have been raised in these two Writ Petitions and similar prayer has been sought for therein, these Writ Petitions are taken up together for common disposal.

(3.) The writ petitioners were appointed as Technical Assistants in the fourth respondent Town Panchayat in 2009. They are qualified in Diploma in Civil Engineering. On being appointed in 2009, they have been continuously working without any interruption. The post of Technical Assistant is a work charged post and the salary to the said post, is paid out of common fund created for the said purpose. They were never treated as regular Government servants. Like the petitioners, there were several persons working in the post of Technical Assistant for long years and in response to the repeated representations, the Government took a policy decision to sanction regular posts, called 'Work Inspectors' to accommodate such all those Technical Assistants, who had fulfilled certain criteria as permanent employees. The Government passed a Government Order in G.O.Ms.No.93 dated 28.5.1998 creating several categories of posts in the Engineering Wing in addition to the existing engineering posts. One such category is the post of Work Inspector and nearly, 250 posts were sanctioned. In spite of the issuance of the G.O.Ms.No.93 dated 28.5.1998, these posts were not filled up on regular basis and they remained unfilled. Finally, the Government issued another Government Order in G.O.Ms.No.183 dated 19.9.2008 wherein, about 185 Technical Assistants who were working in different town panchayats came to be regularized as Work Inspectors. Initially, it was restricted to the persons who were in service and in continuous employment till 2001, i.e. the date on which, the Government passed G.O.Ms.No.211 (P & AR) Department dated 29.11.2001 imposing general ban on recruitment and 5 sanctioned posts of Work Inspectors were brought on regular time pay scale at Rs.3050-4590 and all the Technical Assistants who were initially regularized, were granted necessary relaxation of the rules and all other were allotted the same District where they were originally employed. Some of the Technical Assistants like the petitioners herein who were appointed after 2001 had approached this Court by way of Writ Petitions, which came to be dismissed by a learned single Judge of this Court. However, as against dismissal of the Writ Petitions, Writ Appeals were filed and appellants therein had withdrawn the Writ Appeals and submitted a representation to the Director of Town Panchayat, the second respondent herein to consider their claim for absorbing them as Work Inspectors. The second respondent in consideration of the said representation, has recommended for their absorption by proceedings dated 15.1.2011. In a bath of Writ Appeals, viz., W.A.No.1507 to 1516 of 2010, wherein, the Government is the appellant and while recording the subsequent development, the learned Bench of this Court has disposed of the appeals as follows: