S THENMOZHI Vs. DIRECTOR OF SCHOOL EDUCATION

JUDGEMENT

(1.) (PETITION under Article 226 of The Constitution of India, praying for the issue of a Writ of Certiorarified Mandamus, calling for the records of the respondents herein, comprised in the impugned proceedings of the 2nd respondent herein in Rc. No. 8745/b1/2002 dated 6. 11. 2002 and of the 1st respondent in Rc. No. 84403/d1 (2)/03 dated 20. 9. 2004, rejecting approval of the petitioner's appointment as a Secondary Grade Assistant in the 3rd respondent-school, effective from 10. 9. 2002, quash both the impugned orders as illegal and unconstitutional, and consequently directing the respondents 1 and 2 to approve the petitioner's appointment as such together with all service and monetary benefits effective from 10. 9. 2002.)The petitioner is aggrieved against the order of the second respondent in Rc. No. 8745/b1/2002 dated 6. 11. 2002 and of the first respondent in Rc. No. 84403/d1 (2)/03 dated 20. 9. 2004, declining to approve the appointment of the petitioner as Secondary Grade Assistant in the third respondent-school with effect from 10. 9. 2002. While seeking to quash both the impugned orders, the petitioner seeks for a direction to the respondents 1 and 2 to approve her appointment with all service and monetary benefits with effect from 10. 9. 2002.

(2.) THE brief facts which are required to be stated are that the petitioner claims herself to belong to Adi Dravida community since her father belonged to the said community, namely, Hindu Parayan community, by birth, though subsequently he got converted to Christianity by religion. The petitioner claims that after her birth, she was named as S. Helen Casimir and that she got herself converted back to Hindu community through Arya Samaj with effect from 11. 7. 99 and also got her name changed as "s. Thenmozhi". According to her, after her conversion to Hindu community, she also got the community certificate from the Tahsildar, Thanjavur in proceedings D. Dis. 24/31/99 dated 31. 12. 99, which bears the serial no. 56 of the said office with the Community Certificate No. 9805055. The petitioner would therefore claim that by virtue of her present community status, namely, Hindu Parayan, which is a Scheduled Caste, she applied for the post of Secondary Grade Assistant in the third respondent-school and she was also issued with the order of appointment dated 26. 3. 2002. She was stated to have been subsequently sent for Child Psychology Training by the Chief Educational Officer, Thanjavur and after completion of her training, she was also issued with the Certificate dated 9. 9. 2002. Thereafter, her pay scale was stated to have been fixed by the proceedings in Rc. No. 123 dated 10. 9. 2002 in the pay scale of Rs. 4500-125-7000 plus other allowances admissible to a Secondary Grade Assistant. She is stated to have been continuing in the post of Secondary Grade Assistant eversince 26. 3. 2002 in the third respondent-school and that since her appointment came to be made through employment exchange and she satisfied all the requirements, she was under the impression that her appointment would be duly approved by the respondents 1 and 2. According to her, when the third respondent by their letter dated 17. 9. 2002 approached the second respondent for approval of her appointment, the same was rejected by the second respondent in his proceedings dated 6. 11. 2002 and that the appeal preferred by the third respondent-school before the first respondent was also rejected by the impugned order dated 20. 9. 2004. Aggrieved against the same, the petitioner has come forward with the present writ petition.

(3.) ASSAILING the orders of the respondents 1 and 2, Mr. Thangavel, learned counsel for the petitioner placed reliance upon a Division Bench decision in Prof. I. Elangovan v. State of Tamil Nadu rep. by the Chief Secretary to Government, Chennai and another reported in 2007 (3) MLJ 209. In the said Division Bench decision, a challenge was made to a Letter No. 81 issued by the Adi Dravidar and Tribal Welfare Department dated 19. 9. 2000, in which certain guidelines were issued by the State Government in respect of conferment of the benefit of reservation for Scheduled Castes on conversion from Christianity to Hinduism. The Division Bench after referring to the decisions of the Hon'ble Supreme Court in C. M. Arumugam v. S. Rajagopal and others, (1976) 1 SCC 863, a Constitution Bench decision in Guntur Medical College, Guntur v. Y. Mohan Rao, AIR 1976 SC 1904 and the decision in S. Swvigaradoss v. Zonal Manager, FCI, (1996) 3 SCC 100, held as under in paragraph-4: