B MINU REKHA Vs. STATE OF TAMIL NADU

JUDGEMENT

(1.) The entire litigation has its present origin when the Government has issued G.O.(4D) No.2 Health and Family Welfare (A1) Department, dated 15.2.2019, sanctioning the posts Departments wise and Colleges wise as per the norms of the Medical Council of India in Tamil Nadu Medical Service including teaching posts in Directorate of Medical Education. The Government vide the said G.O., has taken a comprehensive decision in regard to streamlining of transfer/posting/promotion of Doctors belonging to various categories of posts of Medical Officers in the State of Tamil Nadu. The order was issued in supercession of its earlier orders governing the field. Pursuant to the said Government Order, a Circular was issued on 24.5.2019 by the Directorate of Medical Education in regard to Specialty transfer counselling for Medical Officers in the cadre of Assistant Professor/Senior Resident/Tutor/Junior Resident who are under the control of the Directorate of Medical Education in Tamil Nadu Medical Service. The counselling was scheduled to be held between 30.05.2019 and 06.06.2019. The Circular issued various instructions for transfer counselling as under:

(2.) The Doctors who were aggrieved by the above Circular have filed number of Writ Petitions before this Court, challenging the Circular on various grounds. This Court, while entertaining the Writ Petitions at the beginning, has granted interim orders of injunction, restraining the respondents from proceeding further with the counselling in respect of the individual Writ Petitions, by passing first of its order on 04.06.2019. Thereafter, a spate of Writ Petitions came to be filed by the so-called aggrieved Doctors with varied prayers, but touching upon the present transfer counselling to happen in pursuance of the Circular dated 24.5.2019. All the Writ Petitions were entertained and notices were ordered and the interim orders were also passed in several of those Writ Petitions. In the result, the entire exercise of transfer/posting/promotion counselling came to be stalled from the date when initially the order of interim injunction was granted by this Court on 04.06.2019. When the Writ Petitions were taken up for hearing, subsequently several learned Senior counsels and learned counsels appeared on behalf of the writ petitioners and on behalf of the respondents herein, learned Advocate General appeared.

(3.) During the course of arguments, the learned counsels appearing for the writ petitioners pointed out several lacunae in the present counselling to be undertaken by the Government and strong objections were raised in regard to the fairness of the counselling exercise to be conducted by the Government in pursuance of the Circular impugned. In fact, one of the learned counsels who appeared in a batch of Writ Petitions, thus, suggested formation of a Committee of independent persons/retired officials of the Government. The suggestion was forwarded to the Government by this Court, but in response to the same, the Government has expressed its inclination to form a Committee by the serving officials of the Government who are in the know of things, who can be part of the Committee.