Gokulakrishnan v. The Government Of Tamilnadu
BEFORE THE MADURAI BENCH OF MADRAS HIGH COURT Dated : 11.12.2025
CORAM
THE HONOURABLE MR. JUSTICE B.PUGALENDHI WP(MD)Nos.35537 to 35542 and 35683 of 2025 and WMP(MD)Nos.28188, 28192, 28191,28196, 28190,28194,of 2025 Gokulakrishnan ... Petitioner in WP(MD)No.35537 of 2025 Banumathi ... Petitioner in WP(MD)No.35538 of 2025 Naveenkumar ... Petitioner in WP(MD)No.35539 of 2025 Mohanapriya ... Petitioner in WP(MD)No.35541 of 2025 Jeevitha ... Petitioner in WP(MD)No.35542 of 2025 Vs.
1. The Government of Tamilnadu, Represented by it Secretary, Rural Development and Panchayat Raj Department, Fort St.George, Chennai.
2.The Commissioner, Rural Development and Panchayat Raj Department, Panagal Building, Chennai - 15.
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3.The District Collector, Trichy District, Trichy.
4.The Block Development Officer (Village Panchayat), Marungapuri Panchayat Union, Marungapuri, Trichy District.
... Respondents In WP(MD)No.35540 of 2025 Gokulakrishnan ... Petitioner Vs
1. The Government of Tamilnadu, Represented by it Secretary, Rural Development and Panchayat Raj Department, Fort St.George, Chennai.
2.The Commissioner, Rural Development and Panchayat Raj Department, Panagal Building, Chennai - 15.
3.The District Collector, Karuru District, Karur.
4.The Block Development Officer (Village Panchayat), Kadavur Panchayat Union, Kadavur, Karur District.
... Respondents Prayer in WP(MD)Nos.35537 to 35542 of 2025: Writ Petitions filed under Article 226 of the Constitution of India, praying this Court to issue a Writ of Certiorarified Mandamus to call for the records pertaining to the impugned order of the 3rd respondent vide his proceedings Nil dated 2/12
Nil and quash the same as illegal, consequently direct the respondents to permit the petitioner to participate in the interview process for the post of Village Panchayat Assistant.
For Petitioner : Mr.T.Vadivelan For Respondent : Mr.Ajmal Khan, Nos.1 to 3 Additional Advocate General, assisted by Mr.C.Venkatesh Kumar Special Government Pleader For Respondent : Mr.Sadiq Raja No.4 In WP(MD)No.35683 of 2025 R.Dhinesh Kumar ... Petitioner Vs
1. The Government of Tamilnadu, Represented by it Secretary, Rural Development and Panchayat Raj Department, Fort St.George, Chennai.
2.The Commissioner, Rural Development and Panchayat Raj Department, Panagal Building, Chennai - 15.
3.The District Collector, Pudukottai, Pudukottai District.
4.The Assistant Direcotr (Panchayat), Collectorate, Pudukottai ... Respondents 3/12
For Petitioner : Ms.D.Saranya For Respondents : Mr.Ajmal Khan, Additional Advocate General, assisted by Mr.G.V.Vairam Santhosh, Additional Government Pleader
ORDER
The petitioners have applied for the post of Village Panchayat Secretary, pursuant to the notification issued by the District Administration. Some of the petitioners have scored more than 400 marks out of 500 in 10th standard. The petitioners beliving that they have secured sufficient marks for the post of Village Panchayat Secretary, have approached this court challenging the intimation of their non-selection to the post by the department.
2.The learned counsel for the petitioners, by referring to Rule 3(2) of the Tamil Nadu Village Panchayat Secretaries (Conditions of Service) Rules, 2023 (hereinafter referred to as 'the Rules') submits that the Village Panchayat Secretaries shall be selected through open competitive recruitment process and also as ordered by the Government. There was no proper open competitive recruitment process adopted in selecting the 4/12
candidates for the Village Panchayat Secretaries and therefore, the petitioners have not been shortlisted for the interview. 3.The learned Additional Advocate General appearing for the respondents submitted that the petitioners, under the impression that the open competitive recruitment process as mentioned in Rule 3(2) of the Rules amounts to written examination, have filed these writ petitions. The learned Additional Advocate General has clarified that the Government of Tamil Nadu has issued certain directions as to the manner in which the recruitment process has to be conducted, vide G.O.Ms.No.198, Rural Development Panchayati Raj (E5) Department, dated 04.09.2025. As per this Government Order, the Panchayat Secretaries will be selected based on the evaluation of the marks obtained in 10th standard public examination and interview. This G.O. also prescirbes that 85% marks to be awarded based on the marks obtained in the 10th standard public examination and 15% marks to be awarded for interview. The evaluation of the marks is also prescribed in clause VII of the said G.O.
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4.With regard to the interview also, the learned Additional Advocate General clarified the manner in which the interview marks are awarded as per clause X of the said G.O. Therefore, according to the learned Additional Advocate General, the selection process has been conducted in a proper manner and there is no violation in the selection process. He further submits that the petitioners do not fall within the zone of consideration and therefore, they have not been selected. 5.This Court considered the rival submissions made. 6.The petitioners have applied for the post of Village Panchayat Secretaries, pursuant to the notification issued by the District Administration. The selection of Village Panchayat Secretary is made as per the Tamil Nadu Village Panchayat Secretaries (Conditions of Service) Rules, 2023.
As per Rule 3 of the Rules, the Village Panchayat Secretaries shall be selected only by direct recruitment and through open competitive recruitment process.
Assistant to Collector (Development) as its members and the recruitment shall be done in the manner as may be ordered by the Government.
7. The Government vide G.O.Ms.No.198, Rural Development Panchayat Raj Department dated 04.09.2025 have issued guidelines for appointment of Village Panchayat Secretaries, as per the Tamil Nadu Village Panchayat Secretaries (Conditions of Service) Rules, 2023. As per the guidelines issued in the said G.O., the marks obtained in the 10th standard public examination and marks secured during the interview, are the main criteria for selection of the candidates and 85% marks to be awarded for the marks obtained in the 10th standard and 15 marks to be awarded for interview. The evaluation of 10th standard mark is also by calculating the percentage of total marks secured by the candidates. Based on this evaluation, the rank list of the applicants would be published and the candidates would be selected for interview in the ratio of 1:5 in descending order of the merit list for the total vacancies allotted in each rotation system. In the event, if there is shortage for 1:5 ratio, total number of candidates applied should be called to participate in the interview.
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8.The learned Additional Advcoate General has produced the marks obtained by the petitioners and the cut off marks for the respective catogories, which reads as under:
Sl.
No Petitioner's Name Category Cut off Mark Mark obtained by the petitioner Gokulakrishnan MBC/DNC-G Banumathi MBC/DNC-W Naveenkumar MBC/DNCEx-Servicemen Jeevanantham MBC/DNC-G PSTM Mohanapriya MBC/DNC-G PSTM Jeevitha MBC/DNC-G PSTM 9.Admittedly all these petitioners have obtained marks below the cut off marks and they do not fall within the zone of consideration. Therefore, they are not eligible for participating in the interview. However, the rank list as mandated in the above said guideliness, has not been published in the district websites and therefore, the petitioners under the misconception that they are also eligible for attending interview, have filed these writ petitions.
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10.This court has also verified from the learned Additional Advocate General, whether the general rank lists were published in the Tamil Nadu Rural Development and Panchayat Raj Department's website as per clause VIII of the said Government Order which reads as under: "VIII. Publication of Rank List of Applicants 1.On completion of the above procedure, the general rank list would be prepared and published in the descending order based on the marks and after considering roster basis against the vacancy declared. 2.The general rank list would be published in the tnrd website with separate page for each district. ......."
11.The officials, who are instructing the learned Additional Advocate General claim that they have uploaded the rank lists. However on verification it is found that the rank list has not been uploaded. Therefore, the matter was passed over. It is reported when these matters are taken up for hearing again at 1:20pm that on the instructions of the learned Addititional Advcoate General, the general rank list has been published in the official website of the Tamil Nadu Rural Development and Panchayat Raj Department.
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12.The purpose of uploading rank list on the website is to ensure transparency and provide clarity to the applicants. These litigations could have been prevented, if the respondents published the rank list in the website as per the government order. Some of the petitioners have scored more than 450 marks in 10th standard and some of the petitioners are also graduates. Even then they have applied for the post of Village Panchayat Secretaries, for which 10th standard is the qualification, due to their family circumstances. They are made to file these writ petitions without even knowing their ranks due to the lapse on the part of the respondents. 13.It is a settled position that this court can impose reasonable costs considering the conduct of the parties to the litigation and the manner in which the litigation has arisen.
As discussed above, this litigation could have been avoided, had the respondents published the rank list as per the government order. In light of the same, this court, while dismissing these writ petitions, imposes a cost of Rs.5,000/-, (Rs.
the date of receipt of a copy of this order. Consequently connected miscellaneous petitions are closed.
11.12.2025 DSK Index : Yes / No.
NCC : Yes / No.
To
1. The Secretary, Rural Development and Panchayat Raj Department, Fort St.George, Chennai.
2.The Commissioner, Rural Development and Panchayat Raj Department, Panagal Building, Chennai - 15.
3.The District Collector, Trichy District, Trichy.
4.The Block Development Officer (Village Panchayat), Marungapuri Panchayat Union, Marungapuri, Trichy District.
5.The District Collector, Karuru District, Karur.
6.The Block Development Officer (Village Panchayat), Kadavur Panchayat Union, Kadavur, Karur District. 7.The District Collector, Pudukottai, Pudukottai District.
8.The Assistant Direcotr (Panchayat), Collectorate, Pudukottai.
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B.PUGALENDHI, J.
DSK ORDER IN WP(MD) No.35537 of 2025 Date : 11/12/2025 12/12