R. Palanisamy & Ors vs Registrar General High Court Of Madras & Ors.

,,

Aggrieved by the dismissal by the High Court, of their claim for promotion to the post of Junior Bailiff, persons working as Office",,

Assistants/Record Clerks in various courts in Erode District of the State of Tamil Nadu have come up with this special leave petition.,,

We have heard Mr. Purushottam Sharma Tripathi, learned counsel appearing for the petitioners.",,

22 persons, of whom 3 are working as Record Clerks and the rest working as Office Assistants in various courts in Erode District filed a writ",,

petition on the file of the High Court of Judicature at Madras, seeking a Mandamus to consider their claim for promotion to the post of Junior Bailiff,",,

without insisting on the educational qualification of a pass in SSLC. Their claim was based upon (1) a previous order of the High Court dated,,

22.07.2009 in a batch of cases and (2) the fact that the vacancies to which they lay a claim, arose before the issue of the Tamil Nadu Government",,

Servants (Conditions of Service) Act, 2016 and that, therefore, a pass in SSLC cannot be insisted upon as a qualification for promotion to the post of",,

Junior Bailiff.,,

The High Court rejected the claim on the ground that the previous judgment of the Court dated 22.7.2009 in the batch of cases is no longer of any,,

relevance, after the coming into force of Tamil Nadu Government Servants (Conditions of Service) Act, 2016 and that the date on which the",,

vacancies arose cannot determine the Rule applicable for recruitment by promotion. Therefore, aggrieved by the said order, the petitioners are before",,

us.,,

As pointed out earlier, there were 22 petitioners before the High Court, out of whom 3 persons are working as Record Clerks and the remaining 19",,

are working as Office Assistants. The post of Office Assistant falls under category 5 of ClassÂIII of the Tamil Nadu Basic Service. All matters,,

concerning the posts in the Tamil Nadu Basic Service, such as their constitution, appointing authority, method of recruitment, qualifications prescribed",,

for appointment, probation, discharge and postings and transfers, are governed by a set of Special Rules known as the Special Rules for Tamil Nadu",,

Basic Service, issued in exercise of the powers conferred by the Proviso to Article 309 of the Constitution. Rule 1 of these Special Rules divides the",,

posts in the entire Tamil Nadu Basic Service into four classes, with each class being subÂdivided into various categories of posts. While ClassÂI has",,

4 categories of posts, ClassÂII has 5 categories of posts, ClassÂIII has 6 categories of posts, ClassÂIV has 86 categories of posts. The post of",,

Office Assistant falls under category 5 of Class III of the Tamil Nadu Basic Service. Most of the petitioners before the High Court belonged to this,,

category.,,

Three petitioners before the High Court were working as Record Clerks and this post falls under category 1A of the Tamil Nadu General,,

Subordinate Service. The terms and conditions of service of the posts falling under the Tamil Nadu General Subordinate Service are stipulated in,,

another set of Special Rules known as Special Rules for Class XXII of the Tamil Nadu General Subordinate Service, issued in exercise of the power",,

conferred by the Proviso to Article 309.,,

Thus, in essence, the petitioners who went before the High Court, seeking promotion to the post of Junior Bailiff, belonged to two categories of",,

posts, in 2 different services, one falling in the Tamil Nadu Basic Service and another falling in the Tamil Nadu General Subordinate Service, each of",,

which is governed by a separate set of Special Rules issued in exercise of the power conferred by the Proviso to Article 309.,,

The post to which the petitioners laid a claim by way of promotion, namely the post of Junior Bailiff, was formerly known as the post of “process",,

server†falling under Category 3 of ClassÂIII of the Tamil Nadu Basic Service. It was a Group ‘D’ post. But after the implementation of the,,

recommendations of the Tamil Nadu V Pay Commission, the post of Process Server, was upgraded from being a Group ‘D’ post into a Group",,

‘C’ post and consequently deleted from the Basic Service and included in the Tamil Nadu Judicial Ministerial Service (which is a service,,

superior to the Basic service). This upgradation was accompanied by a consequential upward revision of the payÂscale also. This exercise of,,

upgradation of the post from Basic Service to Judicial Ministerial Service with a higher pay scale, was done under a Government order in G.O.Ms.No.",,

1653, Home, (Cts.V) Department, dated 22Â12Â2008. Though necessary amendments to both sets of statutory rules namely the Special Rules for",,

Tamil Nadu Basic Service (for the deletion of the post thereÂfrom) and the Special Rules for Tamil Nadu Judicial Ministerial Service (for the,,

inclusion of the post therein) were to follow, it never happened.",,

But in the meantime, another event took place. That event related to the implementation of the recommendations of the First National Judicial Pay",,

Commission (Shetty Commission) made in the year 2003. The Report recommended the creation of 2 categories of posts of Bailiffs in the Process,,

establishment of courts, wherever there was only one category of the post. But in the State of Tamil Nadu, there were already 2 categories of posts",,

namely Junior Bailiff and Senior Bailiff. The First National Judicial Pay Commission also recommended in its report, (i) the grant of higher pay scales",,

for both categories of bailiffs and (ii) the prescription of Matriculation as the minimum general educational qualification both for direct recruitment and,,

for promotion to these 2 categories of posts of Bailiffs. These recommendations were accepted by the Government of Tamil Nadu and the revision of,,

the pay scales of the posts of Bailiffs took place under G.O.Ms.No. 40, Home (Cts.V) dated 11Â2Â 2008. Thereafter, the Government also issued",,

G.O. Ms.No.761, Home (Cts.V) dated 10Â7Â2008, accepting the recommendation of the Shetty Commission that the minimum general educational",,

qualification for the posts in the Process Establishment of courts, shall be Matriculation, both for direct recruitment and promotion.",,

Thus 2 things happened during the year 2008, which are as follows:",,

(A) The first was the implementation of the recommendations of the Shetty Commission (i) to create 2 categories of Bailiffs (Junior Bailiff and,,

Bailiff/Senior Bailiff) with a revision of the scales of pay of the posts and (ii) the prescription of the qualification of Matriculation.,,

(B) The second was the implementation of the recommendations of the Tamil Nadu V Pay Commission (i) for deleting the post of Process Server,,

from the Basic Service and including the same in the Judicial Ministerial Service under the name ‘Junior Bailiff’ and (ii) granting a higher scale,,

of pay for the post.,,

As a matter of fact, apart from the aforesaid category of Process Servers in the Moffussil courts, upgraded as Junior Bailiffs and included in the",,

Judicial Ministerial Service, there were also other categories of Bailiffs, already in existence in the Tamil Nadu Judicial Ministerial Service. They were",,

(1) Bailiff, Court of Small Causes cumÂCourt keeper, City Civil Court, Madras; (2) Senior Bailiffs of the Presidency Court of Small Causes,",,

Madras; (3) Junior Bailiffs of the Presidency Court of Small Causes, Madras; (4) ProcessÂWriters of the Presidency Court of small Causes, Madras.",,

These posts already existed in categories 1 to 4 of ClassÂII of the Tamil Nadu Judicial Ministerial Service. Similarly, there was also one more post",,

namely the post of Senior Bailiff in Mofussil Courts, falling under ClassÂ​V of the Tamil Nadu Judicial Ministerial Service.",,

For appointment to the aforesaid categories of posts of Bailiff falling under ClassÂII and ClassÂV of the Tamil Nadu Judicial Ministerial Service,",,

the Special Rules for Tamil Nadu Judicial Ministerial Service, prescribe the completion of SSLC as an essential qualification. This can be seen from",,

the table below Rule 19 of the Special Rules for Tamil Nadu Judicial Ministerial Service:,,

2.(c) Senior Bailiff,"Direct recruitment or

recruitment by transfer","Minimum General Educational Qualification (Substituted vide G.O.Ms

No.316, Home (Ser.I)

Dept., dated 12.02.1990 (Proviso Omitted vide G.O.Ms. Nos.1771, Home (Cts.v

Dept., dated 25.11.1996)

2 .(d) Junior Bailiffs and

Process Writers.

(for items 2(b) and 2(c), items 2(b),

2(c) and 2(d) substituted,

vide G.O.Ms No.1600, Hom

Dept., dated 15.06.1971","Direct recruitment or

recruitment by transfer.

e","Minimum General Educational qualification or a pass in the Indian Air Force

educational test for reclassification to Leading Air Craftsman.

Provided that in the case of appointment by transfer from the Tamil Nadu Last

Grade Service and Tamil Nadu General Subordinate Service the

educational qualifications shall be completed Secondary School

Leaving Certificate.

Provided further that in the case of a person who was a member of the Tamil Nadu

Last Grade Service or the Tamil Nadu General Subordinate Service before 1969, the

educational qualification shall be anything higher than the minimum than prescribed for

the category to which the transferee belonged before 1969.