IMPORTANT POINT
Recruitment to public service, normally, ought to be by open advertisement and requisitions through the employment exchange can at best be supplemental. However, in special circumstances this settled law may be departed from.

JUDGMENT

RANJAN GOGOI, J. –

1. Leave granted.

2. What clearly has been a long drawn tussle between under-qualified Computer Instructors appointed on ad-hoc basis (many of them have acquired the requisite qualification i.e. B.Ed. Degree in the meantime) and the B.Ed. qualified candidates who are yet to be appointed but claim to have been waiting for such appointment for long have surfaced once again, albeit, in a different manner. The challenge in these appeals is in respect of the directions of the Madras High Court in the common order under challenge dated 18.09.2013, particularly, direction No. (vi) and (vii) contained in para 53. To better comprehend the dimensions of the challenge para 53 of the impugned order is reproduced hereinbelow.

“53. Summary of conclusion :-

(i) The Government was correct and justified in terminating the services of failed computer instructors;

(ii) The failed computer instructors have no right to continue after the conclusion of second round of regularization process;

(iii) The writ petitioners have no right to continue even temporarily, pending regular recruitment;

(iv) The failed computer instructors are not eligible or entitled for regularization in view of the finding recorded by the Supreme Court in Civil Appeal No. 4187 of 2009;

(v) The names of the failed computer instructors (whose names were earlier registered in the Employment Exchange) should be re- entered in the Employment register of the concerned Employment Exchange and their earlier seniority also should be restored;

(vi) The Government shall follow the present policy of recruitment of teachers, while appointing computer instructors viz. recruitment through Teachers Recruitment Board;

(vii) The writ petitioners are eligible to apply along with others pursuant to the notification issued by the Teacher Recruitment Board. The writ petitioners are not entitled for any kind of preference. However, they are at liberty to apply for age relaxation to apply for the recruitment and the request for age relaxation, if any, would be considered on merits.”

3. The reference to the recurrent dispute between the two warring groups seeking either to retain or obtain employment would necessarily require this Court to traverse the complex factual matrix once again notwithstanding the fact that in each of the challenges before the High Court as well as this Court a sequential narration of the relevant facts has been made. As, unless the same are repeated herein the issues will not crystallize and, therefore, there is no option but once again to recapitulate the events of the past.

4. Some time in the year 1999, the Government of Tamil Nadu took a policy decision to offer computer science as an elective subject to students of classes 11 and 12 in the government higher secondary schools of the State. To give effect to the said policy the State Government awarded a five year contract to the Electronic Corporation of Tamil Nadu (ELCOT) to provide not only computer hardware and software but also the man power for conducting the classes. ELCOT therefore engaged Computer Instructors numbering 1332 in the first phase (1999) and 1062 in the second phase (2000). Such placements were made through different employment agencies.

5. After the contract with ELCOT had ended in February, 2005, the State Government by a G.O. MS No. 187 dated 4.10.2006 notified its decision to create one post of Computer Instructor in every government higher secondary school of the State (1880 schools) in the payscale of Rs. 5500-175-9000/-. A decision was also taken to regularize the services of the Computer Instructors appointed by ELCOT against the said posts subject to their clearing a special test to be held by the Teachers Recruitment Board. The minimum marks in order to be selected was fixed at 50%. Inbuilt in the said decision was to relax the educational qualifications for such Computer Instructors, namely, the B.Ed. degree which they did not possess. The aforesaid order was challenged before