An employee who waives his original seniority in one unit and requests re-fixation of seniority in another unit cannot subsequently seek re-fixation of seniority counter to the seniority fixed based on his own request.

JUDGMENT :

(Prayer: Writ Petition filed under Article 226 of the Constitution of India for issuance of a Writ of Certiorarifed Mandamus, calling for the records of the respondent in connection with the impugned order passed by him in Ref.No.3409/EW2/2014 dated 11.03.2014 and quash the same and direct the respondent to revise the seniority of the petitioner in the cadre of Chief Head Warder based on his seniority and grant him further promotion at par with his juniors.)

1. The order of rejection, rejecting the claim of the writ petitioner to revise the seniority of the writ petitioner in the cadre of Chief Head Warder is under challenge in the present writ petition.

2. The writ petitioner was appointed as Grade-II Warder in the Prison Department. He was promoted as Grade-II Warder and now serving as Chief Head Warder in Central Prison, Chennai. The petitioner while serving at Central Prison, Trichy, he made a request application to transfer him to Central Prison, Chennai. During the relevant period of time, the District was the unit for the appointment, transfer and promotion. But subsequently, the Government modified the service rules and brought the entire State in one unit in respect of Warders and prepared seniority list.

3. When the seniority list was prepared in the year 2010, the name of the petitioner did not found place. The petitioner made a representation and requested to remove his name from the employees list of Central Prison, Trichy and to include his name in the employees list of the Central Prison, Chennai. Accordingly, the name of the petitioner was removed from the seniority list at Central Prison, Trichy and included in seniority list at Central Prison, Chennai by the proceedings dated 09.01.2010. The State wise seniority list for the year 2011-2012 was prepared by the respondent on 14.10.2010, wherein, the name of the petitioner was not included in the appropriate place. Numbers of juniors to the petitioner have been arrayed as seniors and they have given further promotion to the post of Assistant Jailors.

4. The petitioner states that the persons in S.No.479 C.R.Manokaran, 553 Palraj, 567 Gangadaran, 614 Pitchandi, 662 Kumar, 752 Israel and 878 Nedunchezhian were included in the State wise seniority list and they were promoted as Grade-I Warders and subsequently, promoted to the post of Assistant Jailors.

5. The petitioner earlier filed writ petition in W.P.No.5665 of 2004 and this Court passed an order on 26.02.2014, directing the respondents to consider the representation and consequently, the respondent rejected the representation in the impugned order dated 11.03.2014. Thus, the petitioner has chosen to file the present writ petition.

6. The learned Senior Counsel appearing on behalf of the petitioner mainly contended that no doubt, the District was the unit during the relevant point of time, when the petitioner submitted a request transfer application to transfer him to Chennai. However, thereafter, the State became the unit and therefore, the petitioner's name ought to have been placed in an appropriate place. However, in the seniority list at Chennai, the name of the writ petitioner was included as a last candidate, which resulted in denial of seniority and consequential promotion to the writ petitioner. Many of his juniors at Chennai were promoted. Thus, the order impugned is liable to be set aside.

7. The learned Government Advocate appearing on behalf of the respondent objected the said contention by stating that the petitioner has made a representation on 14.07.2010 for deletion of his name in the seniority list of Grade-II Warder of Central Prison, Trichy, in which, he was originally appointed. On acceptance of the request of the petitioner dated 13.11.2010, his name was deleted from the seniority list of Grade-II Warder of Central Prison, Trichy by the Superintendent of Prisons, Central Prison, Trichy in proceedings dated 30.11.2010 and his name was included in the seniority list of Central Prison, Ch