JUDGMENT :

(Common Prayer: Writ Petitions filed under Article 226 of the Constitution of India, praying to issue a Writ of Certiorarified Mandamus, calling for the records pertaining to the order made in Letter Nos.30099/L1/2017-3, 30099/L1/2017-4 & 30099/L1/2017-5 respectively, dated 16.05.2019 by the first respondent, quash the same and consequently direct the first respondent to absorb the petitioner by providing suitable job in terms of G.O.(Ms) No.83 dated 22.03.2017, G.O. (Ms) No.292 dated 22.08.2017, G.O.(Ms) No.448 dated 02.12.2017 passed by the first respondent.)

The present Writ Petitions are heard through Video Conferencing on 29.07.2021.

2. In all these three Writ Petitions, the petitioners were appointed in the Voluntary Health Services (VHS), Leprosy Project Hospital, Erode District under the Leprosy Eradication Programme. After the Leprosy Eradication Program was integrated with the Directorate of Public Health and Preventive Medicine, through G.O.(Ms)No.320, Health and Family Welfare (G-1) Department, dated 27.06.1997, many of the employees of different categories working in various Non Governmental Voluntary Organisations were absorbed and appointed in the Government Departments through various Government Orders including G.O.(Ms)No.268 dated 20.09.2010; G.O.(Ms) No.83 dated 22.03.2017; G.O.(Ms) No.292 dated 22.08.2017; G.O.(Ms) No.448 dated 02.12.2017; etc. The petitioners herein, whose services were not absorbed by the Government of Tamil Nadu, were directed by this Court in its order dated 06.12.2018 passed in W.P.Nos.17290 to 17292 of 2017 for reconsideration of their request based on the orders passed in the aforesaid Government Orders. In compliance of the orders of this Court, the Health and Family Welfare Department has passed orders on 16.05.2019 rejecting the petitioners' claim, predominantly on the ground of laches by stating that these petitioners had continued working in the NGO even after integration of the Leprosy Eradication Programme with the Directorate of Public Health and Preventive Medicine and therefore cannot claim for appointment. Aggrieved against the order dated 16.05.2019, the present Writ Petitions have been filed.

3. The main ground raised by the petitioners is that the Government cannot cite laches as a reason for rejection of their request for absorption into Government posts since identically placed employees of the Leprosy Eradication Programme have been absorbed and accommodated under various Government Orders.

4. Such a submission is opposed by the learned Counsel appearing on behalf of the Government stating that, unlike the other employees of the Leprosy Eradication Programme, these petitioners have belatedly sought for absorption and therefore their request was rightly rejected.

5. The crucial issue that requires to be addressed in the present Writ Petitions is as to whether the delay and laches would be an impediment for denial of the appointment to the Government posts, particularly when similarly placed persons have been absorbed.

6. While the State, which is governed by the Rule of Law could adopt delay and laches as a mode of discretion to decline exercise of jurisdiction to grant relief, the Court is required to exercise judicial discretion, depending on the facts and circumstances of the case and as such, the doctrine of delay and laches cannot be considered as an absolute impediment, which proposition was held by the Hon'ble Supreme Court in the case of Tukaram Kana Joshi and Others through Power of Attorney Holder Vs. M.I.D.C. and Others reported in 2013 (2) CTC 222.

7. With the aforesaid ratio as a guiding factor, the necessary facts surrounding the present cases were analyzed. It is not in dispute that pursuant to the integration of the Leprosy Eradication Programme with the Directorate of Public Health and Preventive Medicine, the Health and Family Welfare Department of the Government of Tamil Nadu had issued G.O.(Ms) No.268, dated 20.09.2010; G.O.(Ms) No.83 dated 22.0