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IN THE HIGH COURT OF MADRAS
S. MANIKUMAR, SUBRAMONIUM PRASAD, JJ.
A. Syed Ansari and Ors. – Appellants
Versus
The State of Tamil Nadu and Ors. – Respondents
W.P. Nos. 6316 and 7793 of 2019
Decided On : 08-08-2019
Tamil Nadu Government Servants Act, 2016 - Section 25 - Constitution of India - Article 226 - challenged person – Employment and service – Jurisdiction - He further submitted that the Examination for the post of Assistant Professors/Assistant Professors (Pre-law) in Government Law Colleges for the year 2017-2018, was notified on 18.07.2018 and conducted on 16.10.2018. He further submitted that he had applied for the subject Constitutional law and the results were published on 29.01.2019. He was selected and interview call letter dated 08.02.2019 was received from the respondent - Petitioner has further submitted that when he appeared for the interview on 01.03.2019, during certificate verification, despite having qualified in NET and SET exams, since his LLM degree was a one year degree, the respondents did not permit him to participate in the interview as he has not obtained his PG degree, after completion of S.S.L.C., Higher Secondary Course and a degree in (10+2+3+2 or 3) pattern from any University or institution, recognized by the University Grants Commission – Held, Questions relating to the constitution, pattern, nomenclature of posts, cadres, categories, their creation/abolition, prescription of qualifications and other conditions of service including avenues of promotions and criteria to be fulfilled for such promotions pertain to the field of policy is within the exclusive discretion and jurisdiction of the State, subject, of course, to the limitations or restrictions envisaged in the Constitution of India and it is not for the statutory tribunals, at any rate, to direct the Government to have a particular method of recruitment or eligibility criteria or avenues of promotion or impose itself by substituting its views for that of the State. Similarly, it is well open and within the competency of the State to change the rules relating to a service and alter or amend and vary by addition/subtraction the qualifications, eligibility criteria and other conditions of service including avenues of promotion, from time to time, as the administrative exigencies may need or necessitate. Likewise, the State by appropriate rules is entitled to amalgamate departments or bifurcate departments into more and constitute different categories of posts or cadres by undertaking further classification, bifurcation or amalgamation as well as reconstitute and restructure the pattern and cadres/categories of service, as may be required from time to time by abolishing the existing cadres/posts and creating new cadres/posts. There is no right in any employee of the State to claim that rules governing conditions of his service should be forever the same as the one when he entered service for all purposes and except for ensuring or safeguarding rights or benefits already earned, acquired or accrued at a particular point of time, a government servant has no right to challenge the authority of the State to amend, alter and bring into force new rules relating to even an existing service - This Court is of the view that the question of considering equivalence is purely in the exclusive domain of the experts in the field of education. That is the reason why, Equivalence Committee has been constituted and it is also stated to be periodically convened, and on the basis of the recommendation of such committee, orders are issued by the Government - petition are dismissed
ORDER :
S. Manikumar, J.
1. Instant writ petitions were filed seeking for a Writ of Declaration to declare Explanation 1(c) of Section 25 of the Tamil Nadu Government Servants (Conditions of Service) Act, 2016 (Tamil Nadu Act No. 14 of 2016) as ultra vires of the Constitution. Since, the issue involved in these writ petitions are common, they are heard together and disposed of, by means of this Common Order.
2. Mr. A. Syed Ansari, petitioner in W.P. No. 6316 of 2019 is an Advocate, duly enrolled with the Bar Council of Tamil Nadu and Pondicherry. He is a visually challenged person. He has completed his schooling from the Government Higher Secondary School for the Blind, Poonamallee in 2009 and thereafter, secured a seat in the National University of Advanced Legal Studies (NUALS), Kochi and passed out of the law school, with a first class degree in 2014. Thereafter, he secured admission to the LLM program offered by Indian Law Institute, New Delhi (2014-2015 batch). The Indian Law Institute, New Delhi offered a one year LLM program in tune with the UGC guidelines and the course was recognised by the University Grants Commission.
3. Petitioner has further submitted that he got qualified in the National Eligibility Test (NET) held on 10.07.2016 and the State Eligibility Test (SET) on 21.02.2016. Further, he joined as Assistant Professor in the Tamil Nadu National Law University, Trichy, on contract basis from 10.07.2017 to 26.07.2018.
4. He further submitted that the Examination for the post of Assistant Professors/Assistant Professors (Pre-law) in Government Law Colleges for the year 2017-2018, was notified on 18.07.2018 and conducted on 16.10.2018. He further submitted that he had applied for the subject Constitutional law and the results were published on 29.01.2019. He was selected and interview call letter dated 08.02.2019 was received from the respondent.
5. Petitioner has further submitted that when he appeared for the interview on 01.03.2019, during certificate verification, despite having qualified in NET and SET exams, since his LLM degree was a one year degree, the respondents did not permit him to participate in the interview as he has not obtained his PG degree, after completion of S.S.L.C., Higher Secondary Course and a degree in (10+2+3+2 or 3) pattern from any University or institution, recognized by the University Grants Commission.
6. Aggrieved by the same, he filed the instant writ petition challenging the vires of Explanation 1(c) of Section 25 of the Tamil Nadu Government Servants (Conditions of Service) Act, 2016 (impugned provision) as arbitrary, unconstitutional as it is violative of Article 14 and 21 of the Constitution of India.
7. When the case came up for hearing on 15.07.2019, we passed the following order:
Mr. A. Syed Ansari/petitioner has sought for a Writ of Declaration, declaring Explanation 1 (c) of Section 25 of the Tamil Nadu Government Servants (Conditions of Service) Act, 2016 (Tamil Nadu Act No. 14 of 2016) as ultra vires the Constitution.
2. Petitioner has completed the School Education in Government Higher Secondary School for the blind, Poonamallee in 2009 and secured a seat in the National University of Advanced Legal Studies (NUALS), Kochi and passed out of law school with a first class in 2014. He has secured admission in the one year LLM programme offered by the Indian Law Institute (Deemed University), New Delhi, (2014-2015 batch). He got LLM degree in 2015.
3. Petitioner has further contended that one year LLM Course was approved by UGC, by an order dated 18.01.2013, which states that the Commission considered the guidelines for introduction of one year LLM programme, 2015 and approved introduction of one year LLM degree only in such universities/institutions which have a Centre for Post Graduate Legal Studies.
4. UGC has also issued a notificati
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