S.Manoranjitham v. The State Of Tamil Nadu
IN THE HIGH COURT OF JUDICATURE AT MADRAS
Dated : 10.11.2022
CORAM
THE HONOURABLE MR.JUSTICE ABDUL QUDDHOSE and W.M.P.Nos.25453 & 25455 of 2022 S. Manoranjitham .. Petitioner Vs.
1.The State of Tamil Nadu, Rep. by its Secretary to Government, Higher Education Department, Fort St.George, Chennai - 600 009.
2.Teachers Recruitment Board, Rep. by its Member Secretary, 3rd and 4th Floor, Puratchi Thalaivar Dr. MGR Centenary Building, DPI Campus, College Road, Chennai - 600 006.
3.Pondicherry University, Rep. by its Assistant Registrar (Academic), R.V. Nagar, Kalapet, Puducherry - 605 014.
.. Respondents Prayer: Writ Petition filed under Article 226 of the Constitution of India praying for the issuance of Writ of Mandamus, directing the 2nd respondent to delete the remark "withheld" made against the name of the petitioner appearing in Serial No.105 of the Provisional Selection List dated 1/6
14.09.2022 for the direct recruitment for the post of PG Assistant in the subject Economics and consequently direct the 2nd respondent to issue appointment order to the petitioner as PG Assistant in Economics pursuant to Notification No.01/2021, dated 09.09.2021 without insisting on equivalence Government Order for the M.A. degree in Development Economics secured from the Pondicherry University and by accepting the Conduct Certificate already produced by the petitioner at the time of Certificate verification on 03.09.2022.
For Petitioner : Mrs.Nalini Chidambaram for Mrs.C.Uma For Respondents : Mr.V.Manoharan, Additional Government Pleader [R1] Mr.R.Neelakandan, Additional Advocate General assisted by Mr.C.Kathirawan, Special Government Pleader [R2] Mr.M.Ravi, [R3]
ORDER
The petitioner has been selected under the Provisional Selection List to the post of PG Assistant in Economics. However, the petitioner has not been called for counseling on the ground that in the application seeking for selection, her gender has been mentioned as 'Male' instead of 'Female' and 2/6
apart from that, equivalence certificate for M.A. (Development Economics) has not been produced from the Equivalence Committee in the State of Tamil Nadu.
2. The learned Additional Advocate General appearing for the second respondent, on instructions, would submit that the Equivalence Committee is scheduled to have its sitting on 18.11.2022. He would further submit that if eight (8) weeks time is granted, the Equivalence Committee will pass final orders, if a representation is given by the petitioner seeking for Equivalence Certificate with regard to the claim that M.A. (Development Economics), the degree issued by the Pondicherry University and M.A. (Economics), the degree issued by the Tamil Nadu University, are one and the same. Insofar as the second ground under which the petitioner has not been called for counseling namely, that in the gender column, her gender is mentioned as 'Male' though in fact, she is a 'Female', the learned Additional Advocate General has not raised any serious objections to the contentions of the learned senior counsel appearing for the petitioner that the said disclosure of gender, has been done inadvertently.
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3. After recording the submissions made by the respective counsels, this Court directs the petitioner to submit a representation to the Equivalence Committee in Tamil Nadu on or before 17.11.2022 and on receipt of the said representation seeking for grant of equivalence certificate in respect of M.A. (Development Economics), degree obtained by the petitioner from Pondicherry University and M.A. (Economics), degree issued by the University of Tamil Nadu, the Equivalence Committee shall pass final orders, within a period of eight (8) weeks thereafter. It is further directed that the post allotted to the petitioner under the Provisional Selection List dated 14.09.2022, shall not be allotted to any other third party by the respondents until further orders from this Court.
4. With the aforesaid directions, this Writ Petition is disposed of. However, if the petitioner is aggrieved by an order passed by the Equivalence Committee, liberty is hereby granted to the petitioner to challenge the same in the manner known to her under law. No costs. Connected miscellaneous petitions are closed. 10.11.2022 Index: Yes/No Sni 4/6
To 1.The Secretary to Government of Tamil Nadu, Higher Education Department, Fort St.George, Chennai - 600 009.
2.Member Secretary, Teachers Recruitment Board, 3rd and 4th Floor, Puratchi Thalaivar Dr. MGR Centenary Building, DPI Campus, College Road, Chennai - 600 006.
3.Assistant Registrar (Academic), , Pondicherry University, R.V. Nagar, Kalapet, Puducherry - 605 014.
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ABDUL QUDDHOSE,J.
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