J LAKSHMI BAI Vs. GOVERNMENT OF TAMIL NADU

JUDGEMENT

(1.) THE writ petitioner has joined service in the Survey and Land Records Department as Junior Draftsman on 07. 10. 1974. After completion of her probation on 06. 10. 1976, she was promoted as Senior Draftsman on 10. 03. 1983 as per the proceedings of the Assistant Director of Survey and Land Records, Tiruchirapalli, dated 28. 01. 1983. After serving in the said promoted post for one year and 7 months, she opted to temporarily relinquish her promotion for a period of 3 years due to her family circumstances. Accordingly, she was reverted as Junior Draftsman in which post she has joined duty on 01. 10. 1984. After expiry of the said 3 years period, viz. , the period of temporary relinquishment, the 4th respondent, by order dated 30. 08. 1988, has again promoted the petitioner as Senior Draftsman in which post she had joined on 05. 09. 1988. In spite of her services as Senior Draftsman for more than 10 years, her services have not been regularized. She made a representation for the regularisation of service and to grant her Selection Grade scale on completion of 10 years from the date of her joining as Senior Draftsman. She was also eligible to be included in the promotion panel of Head Draftsman for the year 2001-2002. However, the petitioner was reverted as Draftsman with retrospective effect from 05. 09. 1988 under the impugned order dated 22. 11. 2004, which came to the knowledge of the petitioner only in the month of April, 2005, since the petitioner was undergoing a bypass surgery.

(2.) IN the impugned order, in which apart from the petitioner, 2 other persons, viz. , S. Rajalakshmi and K. Malarmani were also included in reverting them as Draftsman, it is stated that with effect from 01. 05. 1987, for a person to be promoted from the post of Junior Draftsman to Senior Draftsman, he must undergo the 1st promotion as Land Revenue Draftsman, which was created by the said date. According to the 4th respondent in the impugned order, since the new post of Land Revenue Draftsman was created from 01. 05. 1987, the promotion of the petitioner from Junior Draftsman to Senior Draftsman on 30. 08. 1988 effected by the 4th respondent is against the said regulation, which came into force from 01. 07. 1987 and therefore, the petitioner and the other 2 persons were reverted as Draftsman with retrospective effect from 05. 09. 1988.

(3.) IT is also seen that one of the said 3 persons, who were affected by the impugned order dated 22. 11. 2004, viz. , K. Malarmani, has approached this Court by filing a writ petition, W. P. No. 39135 of 2004 challenging the same impugned order. Placing reliance on the judgment of the Supreme Court in M. A. Hameed -vs- State of A. P. and another reported in (2001) 9 Supreme Court Cases 261), wherein it was held that the reversion of the appellant therein from the post of District Inspect of Local Funds (Accounts) after a period of 11 years was held to be bad in law, the writ petition filed by the said K. Malarmani came to be allowed by the order dated 15. 06. 2007. Justice A. Kulasekaran, in the said judgment, while dealing with the facts of the said case, which is also similar to the facts in issue relating to the petitioner herein, held as follows:-