N.Ramamoorthy v. The State Of Tamilnadu
IN THE HIGH COURT OF JUDICATURE AT MADRAS
DATED: 27.6.2018
CORAM
THE HON'BLE MR.JUSTICE HULUVADI G.RAMESH AND THE HON'BLE MR.JUSTICE RMT.TEEKAA RAMAN Writ Appeal Nos.654 to 657 of 2018 N.Ramamoorthy Appellants in R.Vimala Banumathy WA No.654/18 V.Muthukumarasamy Appellants in K.Azhaganandam WA No.655/18 S.Arunachalam N.Vajravelu A.Subramanian N.Palanisamy D.Dhanakotti C.Arjunan M.Subramanian C.Munirathinam P.Arumugam S.Chakaravarthy R.Girubakaran A.Sugumaran M.Sudharsan R.Venkatesan Ayyadurai K.Thanikasalam P.K.Ramanathan K.Mani S.Grace Hepsi Kirubai M.Sarasu S.V.Balakrishnan J.Serajinsha Appellants in T.Agusthiappan WA No.656/18 R.Manoharan D.Chinnamannar K.Kuppan M.Jaganathan P.Shanmugam C.Selvaraj P.K.Subramanian S.Malapatti Rita
A.Logan M.Ettiyappan C.Purushothaman C.Ganesan L.Krishnamoorthy E.Lakshmanan C.Veera Ragavan L.Kannika V.Shanmugam A.Krishnan P.Kannan I.Amalorpavam S.Thiuvirkolam Y.Vincent K.Mangala Villi M.A.Mariadoss L.Duraisami P.Lalitha G.Lalitha Kumari S.Lakshmi Bai Appellants in C.Subramanian WA No.657/18 Vs.
The State of Tamil Nadu rep. by its Secretary Department of School Education Fort St. George Chennai 600 009.
The Director of Elementary Education DPI Compound College Road Respondents 1 & 2 Chennai 600 006.
in all WAs.
Respondents 3 & 4 in WA No.654/18 Thiruvannamalai Thiruvannamalai District.
Krishnagiri Krishnagiri District.
Dindugal Dindugal District.
Peranamallur Thiruvannamalai District.
Thellar Thiruvannamalai District.
Arani Thiruvannamalai District.
Chetpet Thiruvannamalai District.
Vandavasi Thiruvannamalai District.
Kaveripattinam Krishnagiri District.
The Addl./Assistant Elementary Education Officer Natham Dindigul District.
Wallajabath
G.Sekaran R.Rajappan S.Anthoniammal K.Krishnaveni P.Josuva S.Poongodi Rajam Grace P.Ramuthayee P.Lakshmi S.Veera Lakshmi A.Karthikeyan C.Perumal Samy S.Srinivasan P.Chandra Sekaran E.Kumarasamy K.Chakkarai K.Gowri A.G.Ramamoorthi V.Arumugam C.Kuppusamy D.Gunaseelan Respondents 3-37 R.Chinnaraj in WA No.655/18 [Respondents 16 to 37 were given up] Thiruvannamalai Thiruvannamalai District.
Thellar Thiruvannamalai District.
Peranamallur Thiruvannamalai District.
Madhuranthagam Respondents 3 to 8 in WA No.656/18
Sriperumbudur, Respondents 3 to 5 in WA No.657/18 ----- Appeals under Clause 15 of Letters Patent directed against the common order dated 15.12.2016 made in W.P.Nos.22717, 13187, 20252 and 21155 of 2014.
COMMAN PRAYER Petitions filed Under Article 226 of the Constitution of India to issue a Writ of Mandamus directing the respondents to extend the benefits of the G.O.Ms.No.234 School Education (G2) Department dated 10.09.2009 in so far as the petitioner is concerned and accordingly to award Selection Grade / Special Grade scale of pay in the post of Elementary School Headmaster by taking into account their service prior to 01.06.1988 in the light of the Honourable Division Bench orders passed in W.As. No.815, 1531, 1691, to 1693, 1165 of 2010 dated 07.07.2011. ----- For Appellants : Mr.G.Punnikoti For Respondents : Mr.K.Karthikeyan Government Advocate ------
J U D G M E N T
(Made by Huluvadi G.Ramesh,J) The writ appeals have been directed against the order of the learned single Judge dated 15.12.2016 made in W.P.Nos.22717, 13187, 20252 and 21155 of 2014.
2. By the order impugned in these writ appeals, the learned single Judge, relying upon the judgment of a Division Bench dated 09.12.2015 rendered in W.A.(MD) Nos.312 to 318 of 2011, etc. batch, dismissed the writ petitions seeking the benefits conferred under G.O.Ms.No.234, School Education (G2) Department dated 10.9.2009, holding that the appellants herein are not entitled to the benefits.
3. The learned counsel appearing for the appellants would contend that there is another Division Bench judgment in their favour and therefore, the learned Single Judge ought to have referred the matter to a Larger Bench.
4. We have also heard the learned Government Advocate appearing for the respondents and perused the order of the learned Single Judge in the light of the judgment of the Supreme Court in State of U.P. v. Arvind Kumar Srivastava [(2015) 1 SCC 347], wherein it has been held as under:- "Those persons who did not challenge the wrongful action in their cases and acquiesced into the same and woke up after long delay only because of the reason that their counterparts who had approached the court earlier in time succeeded in their efforts, then such employees cannot claim that the benefit of the judgment rendered in the case of similarly situated persons be extended to them. They would be treated as fence-sitters and laches and delays, and/or the acquiescence, would be a valid ground to dismiss their claim."
5. In the instant case, some people, who felt aggrieved by the G.O., have filed the Original Application in the year 1993 before the Tamil Nadu Administrative Tribunal and the same was allowed.
Thereafter, it appears that these appellants approached this Court after lapse of 25 years and hence, the ratio laid down by this Court for extending similar benefits to the similarly placed persons is hit by laches. Thus, the order passed by the learned Single Judge does not warrant any modification as it does not suffer from any illegality or infirmity.
6. In view of the above, all these writ appeals are dismissed. No costs.
Sd/- Assistant Registrar(CS-II) //True Copy// Sub Assistant Registrar kpl
To
1. The Secretary Department of School Education Fort St. George, Chennai 600 009.
2. The Director of Elementary Education DPI Compound, College Road Chennai 600 006.
3. The District Elementary Education Officer Kancheepuram, Kancheepuram District.
4. The Assistant Elementary Education Officer Uthiramerur, Kancheepuram District.
5. The District Elementary Education Officer Thiruvannamalai, Thiruvannamalai District.
6. The District Elementary Education Officer Krishnagiri, Krishnagiri District.
7. The District Elementary Education Officer Dindugal, Dindugal District.
8. The Assistant Elementary Education Officer Peranamallur, Thiruvannamalai District.
9. The Assistant Elementary Education Officer Thellar, Thiruvannamalai District.
10.The Assistant Elementary Education Officer Uthiramerur, Kancheepuram District.
11.The Assistant Elementary Education Officer Arani, Thiruvannamalai District.
12.The Assistant Elementary Education Officer Chetpet, Thiruvannamalai District.
13.The Assistant Elementary Education Officer Vandavasi, Thiruvannamalai District.
14.The Assistant Elementary Education Officer Kaveripattinam, Krishnagiri District.
15.The Addl./Assistant Elementary Education Officer Natham, Dindigul District.
16.The Assistant Elementary Education Officer Wallajabath, Kancheepuram District.
17.The Assistant Elementary Education Officer Madhuranthagam 18.The Assistant Elementary Education Officer, Sriperumbudur, Kancheepuram District.
+1cc to Mr.G.PUNNIYAKOTTI, Advocate, S.R.No.41681 +1cc to the Government Pleader, S.R.No. 41371 W.A.Nos.654 to 657 of 2018 TR(11/07/2018)