Vellaichamy S v. State Represented By The Principal Secretary
BEFORE THE MADURAI BENCH OF MADRAS HIGH COURT DATED : 10.04.2024
CORAM
THE HONOURABLE MS JUSTICE R.N.MANJULA S.Vellaichamy ... Petitioner Vs.
1.State Represented by the Principal Secretary, Finance Department (Pay Cell), Secretariat, St.George Fort, Chennai.
2.The Director of Technical Education, Anna University Campus, Guindy, Chennai.
3.The Principal, Thiagarajar College of Engineering, Madurai-15.
... Respondents PRAYER: Writ Petition filed under Article 226 of the Constitution of India for issuance of Writ of Mandamus, directing the respondents to verify and fix correct scale of pay as applicable to the petitioner's cadre and to disburse all the monetary benefits to the petitioner from his date of appointment i.e. 30.09.1996 based on petitioner's representation dated 09.03.2024. For Petitioner : Mr.M.Pozhilan For Respondents : Mr.J.Ashok, Additional Government Pleader 1/5
O R D E R
By consent of both the parties, this Writ Petition is taken up for final disposal at the admission stage itself.
2. Heard Mr.M.Pozhilan, learned counsel appearing for the petitioner and MrJ.Ashok, learned Additional Government Pleader appearing for the respondents.
3. The petitioner herein had given a representation to the respondents on 09.03.2024 seeking to verify and fix correct scale of pay as applicable to the petitioner's cadre and to disburse all the monetary benefits to him from his date of appointment i.e. 30.09.1996. Since the said representation was not considered, the present writ petition has been filed.
4. It is needless to point out that whenever a representation of this nature is made to a Statutory Authority, there is a duty cast upon the respondents to consider the same on its own merits and pass appropriate orders in one way or other, instead of keeping the same pending indefinitely. As such, non-consideration of the representation by the Statutory Authority would amount to dereliction of duty. The failure on the part of the authority had 2/5
prompted the petitioner to file this petition for seeking relief through issuance of Writ of Mandamus. As the petitioner has made out a case for invoking the extraordinary powers of this Court under Article 226 of the Constitution of India, the respondents are required to be given with direction to consider the representation of the petitioner within a specified time frame.
5. In the light of the above observations, there shall be a direction to the respondents to consider the petitioner's representation dated 09.03.2024 on its own merits and pass appropriate orders in accordance with law, within a period of eight (8) weeks from the date of receipt of a copy of this order. It is made clear that this Court has not gone into the merits of the claim of the petitioner and it is open to the respondents to consider the same on its own merits.
6. With the above direction, the Writ Petition stands disposed of. No costs.
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To 1.The Principal Secretary, Finance Department (Pay Cell), Secretariat, St.George Fort, Chennai.
2.The Director of Technical Education, Anna University Campus, Guindy, Chennai.
3.The Principal, Thiagarajar College of Engineering, Madurai-15.
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R.N.MANJULA, J.
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