The judgment holds that G.O.Ms. No. 783 dated 30th April, 1981 is violative of Rr. 35(q) and 35(r) of the Special Rules for the Tamil Nadu Ministerial Service Manual, and therefore quashed it. The judgment also overrules the decision of Mohan, J., in W.P. Nos. 401, 402 and 418 of 1975, and the confirming judgment of the Division Bench in W.A. Nos. 394 and 396 of 1979.

M. N. Chandurkar, C.J.

The question which arises for decision before this Full Bench is whether the Government Order No. 783 issued by the Rural Development Department on 30th April, 1981, giving effect to the guidelines with regard to the determination of seniority of persons who were appointed in the Panchayat Development Units in the Tamil Nadu Ministerial Service is constitutionally valid. Since the impugned Government Order was issued by the Government admittedly with a view to give effect to the decision of a learned single Judge of this Court in W.P. Nos. 401, 402 and 403 of 1975 decided on 12th December, 1977, which was confirmed by a Division Bench of this Court while disposing of Writ Appeals Nos. 394 to 396 of 1979, filed by the State Government, District Collector of Salem, and the Director of Rural Development, Madras, and, since, the contentions raised on behalf of the appellant in W.A. No. 462 of 1984, which was taken up along with the writ petitions which raise the same point, challenge the correctness of judgment of the learned single Judge as confirmed by the Division Bench, this Full Bench is necessarily called upon to consider the correctness of the view of the learned single judge, as confirmed by the Division Bench of this Court.

2. At the very outset it may be stated that at the instance of three petitioners, G.O.Ms. No. 862 dated 27th April, 1968, which dealt with Managers and Accountants, who were appointed subsequent to 16th October, 1964, was called in question, because, according to the petitioners before the learned Judge, G.O.Ms. No. 862 was given effect to and the petitioners were reverted from the post of Manager to the Post of Accountant, Panchayat Union. The learned Judge by his order, to the details of which we shall refer later, held that the reversions were bad and that the petitioners before him were entitled to seniority on the basis of the dates on which they had acquired the requisite qualifications prior to their being posted as Managers.

3. In order to appreciate the controversy which has given rise to the several writ petitions filed in this Court consequent upon the Government issuing G.O.Ms. No. 783, dated 30th April, 1981, it is necessary to state certain earlier events and make a reference to the several steps taken by the State of Tamil Nadu while absorbing the erstwhile employees of the District Boards and other Local Authorities by the constitution of three different cadres known as (i) Panchayat Development Unit under the madras Ministerial Service; (ii) Madras Gram Sevak Service; and (iii) Madras Panchayat Development Subordinate Service.

4. Initially by G.O.Ms. No. 2155, dated 16th October, 1964 these three cadres were constituted by the State Government by an administrative order. By this Order the Government directed that the Departmental Unit-Item (xi) (Local Administration Department' in R II of the Madras Ministerial Service Rules should be renamed as Panchayat Development Unit. This Unit would include the posts of Upper Division Clerks (later called Assistants), Accountants and Managers of Panchayat Union Offices, Lower Division Clerks (later designated as Junior Assistants), Assistants/Upper Division Clerks and Accountants in the Panchayat Development Branches in the Collectorates and in the Panchayat Development Sections in the Revenue Divisional Offices. By the same order the Madras Gram Sevak Services was created in each Revenue District consisting of the posts of Gram Sevaks and Executive Officers of Town Panchayats. The constitution of the Panchayat Development unit in the Madras Ministerial Service was given in Cl. 5 of this Government Order. So far as we are concerned, the first category of posts was Managers in Panchayat Union Offices and Accountants in Panchayat Development Sections in Revenue Divisional Offices and in Panchayat Development Branches in Collectorates. The second category was Upper Division Clerks and Accountants in Panchayat Union Off