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2019 Supreme(Mad) 3444
IN THE HIGH COURT OF MADRAS
V. Parthiban, J.
Raja Rajan - Appellant
Versus
Principal Secretary to Government, Home (Police II) Department and Ors. - Respondent
W.P. Nos. 3994, 28625 of 2018, W.M.P. Nos. 4908, 4909, 33410 and 33412 of 2018
Decided On : 17-09-2019
For the Appellant :K. Venkataramani, SC for M. Muthappan, Advocate
For the Respondent: J. Pothiraj, Spl. G.P. and M. Loganathan, Standing Counsel
Headnote:
Tamil Nadu Service Manual 1969 - Section 22 - Rule 11 - Inspector of Police, Special Task Force - Forest brigand and he was killed in encounter - Accelerated promotion, pieces of land - Petitioner while working as Sub-Inspector of Police , was associated with Special Task Force which was entrusted with task of apprehending infamous forest brigand - Ultimately, STF had captured forest brigand and he was killed in encounter - Whether Accelerated seniority which Government proposed to give to persons associated with Special Task Force is valid or not in eye of law see - Whether claim of petitioner herein can be considered when so many litigations are pending before Court on issue of grant of accelerated seniority and correctness of decision taken by Government in amending Rule and also Special Leave Petition filed against order of Division – Held, Claim therefore, ought to have been clearly identified as different as that of others and benefit of accelerated seniority ought to have been extended to petitioner - Petitioner's participation in Task Force in regard to his distinguished service in Special Task Force has not been disputed and in fact, Government cannot dispute at all in face of admitted facts - Court is unable to understand as to why Government had adopted a discriminatory attitude towards petitioner alone - writ petition closed
ORDER :
V. Parthiban, J.
1. Both the writ petitions are filed by the same Officer and the facts and issues are interlinked and common and therefore they were taken together for common disposal as under.
2. The facts in W.P. No. 3994 of 2018 are stated in a nut-shell as hereunder in order to understand the basis of the claim of the petitioner herein.
3. The petitioner was originally appointed as Sub-Inspector of Police on 28.09.1987. He was promoted as Inspector of Police in 2001. The petitioner while working as Sub-Inspector of Police and then as Inspector of Police, was associated with the Special Task Force (in short, 'STF') which was entrusted with the task of apprehending infamous forest brigand Veerappan. Ultimately, the STF had captured the forest brigand and he was killed in the encounter. The various Police Personnel as well as other staff associated with the STF were given rewards, accelerated promotion, pieces of land, special increments, compensation etc., considering their participation and involvement in the STF.
4. As far as the petitioner herein is concerned, he was one of the very few persons who was directly involved in the encounter which resulted in killing of Veerappan. Therefore, he was given accelerated promotion as Deputy Superintendent of Police vide G.O. Ms. No. 1252 Home (Police VIII) Department dated 29.10.2004. Subsequently, the petitioner was chosen for prestigious police medal for gallantry for his courageous act and was awarded the medal on 28.11.2005. Originally when the petitioner was promoted vide G.O. Ms. No. 1252 dated 29.10.2004, the seniority was to be reckoned on the date of joining duty in the new post as per the said G.O. Sub-clause (e) of Clause 5 contains in the said G.O. is relevant and the same is extracted hereunder:
"(e) the names of individual who are granted accelerated promotion be placed at the bottom of the seniority list of the respective category existing on the date of their joining duty in the new post."
The grievance of the petitioner is that, despite his accelerated promotion, consequence seniority of the petitioner was not fixed in the cadre of Deputy Superintendent of Police.
5. While so, the Government issued G.O. Ms. No. 1396 Home Department dated 03.10.2007, deleting Sub-clause (e) of Clause 5 of G.O. Ms. No. 1252 dated 29.10.2004 granting accelerated seniority also. The operative portion of the G.O. Ms. No. 1396 dated 03.10.2007 reads as under;
"3. Based on the careful and independent examination of the issue with relevant records and to ensure that the intention of the Government to recognize the members of service by accelerated promotion is not extended to accelerated seniority thus conferring benefits for the whole of the carrier and following the principles of natural justice, the Government hereby order the following.
(i) the existing para 5(e) of the G.O. Ms. No. 1252, Home (Pol. VIII) Department, dated 29.10.2004 and G.O. Ms. No. 1346, Home (Pol. VIII) Department dated 06.12.2004 be deleted.
(ii) For the para 5(e) occurring in the G.O. Ms. No. 1252, Home (Pol. VIII) Department, dated 29.10.2004 and G.O. Ms. No. 1346, Home (Pol. VIII) Department, dated 06.12.2004 the following shall be substituted.
"The seniority between the accelerated promotees and the general promotees in the promoted category shall continue to be governed by their panel position i.e., with reference to their inter- se-seniority in the lower grade. At any stage the accelerated promotion will not give the individual accelerated consequential seniority, since the accelerated promotion is only for one stage"
(iii) The concept indicated in para 3(ii) above is also applicable to the persons who have been awarded accelerated promotion in individual orders from time to time to the extent it applies to future promotion. The above principle will apply in cases of accelerated promotion to be considered in future."
From the above, it could be seen that the accelerated seniority earlier granted when the promo
