Eligibility for appointment must be assessed based on the last date for application submission, not the date of notification, ensuring fairness in the selection process.

JUDGMENT :

ANITA SUMANTH, J.

Prayer: Appeal filed under Clause 15 of the Letters Patent against order dated 11.08.2021 made in W.P. No. 20815 of 2019 on the file of this Court.

1. The Writ Petitioner/R1 in this appeal belongs to the Muslim Backward caste category. She had responded to Notification bearing Na. Ka. No. 1080/2018/B2 dated 26.03.2018 issued by the Special Officer of Rural Development and Panchayat Raj Department, Erode District calling for applications to fill the post of Panchayat Secretary in Kadukkampalayam Panchayat.

2. The said Notification contains, at serial no. 2, the details of the post and the reservation as follows:

3. The conditions set out in the said Notification are as follows:

4. Along with the Writ Petitioner, several others had also applied to the post. By way of the order impugned in the Writ Petition, dated 26.03.2019, the Block Development Officer of Gobichettipalayam Taluk, Erode District rejected her candidature on the sole ground that she was not a resident of Kadukkampalayam Village. It is undisputed that the petitioner is qualified in all other aspects and her candidature has been rejected solely on the ground of residence.

5. The Writ Petition came to be allowed on 11.08.2021, Writ Court holding that the rejection of the application on that ground cannot be sustained. A positive direction was issued to the effect that the Writ Petitioner be accommodated to the post that she had applied for, within a period of four (4) weeks, while protecting the appointment and service of the person who had been appointed subsequently.

6. The last direction became necessitated on account of the fact that the appellants, i.e. District Collector and Personal Assistant (Development) to the Collector/A1 and A2 respectively, had, on rejection of the candidature of all applicants to Notification dated 26.03.2018, including the Writ Petitioner, issued a second Notification bearing Na. Ka. No. 3409/2019/Aa2 dated 08.11.2019 calling for applications for the reserved post with the turn, Backward Class General.

7. The relevant portion of the second Notification dated 08.11.2019 reads as follows:

8. After considering all the applications received in response to Notification dated 08.11.2019, a candidate was selected and an order of appointment was issued bearing Letter No. 1/2020 dated 24.02.2021. It is relevant to note that the appointment of that candidate was itself made subject to the pendency of W.P. No. 20815 of 2019, which is the Writ Petition paving the way for the present Writ Appeal.

9. The second Notification dated 24.02.2021 was also the subject matter of two Writ Petitions, one, W.P. No. 326 of 2021is filed by one P.A. Shahabudeen. His status is unknown. That Writ Petition has come to be closed on 10.09.2024 with the Court recording that the relief sought had become infructuous.

10. The second Writ Petition was filed by the present Writ Petitioner in W.P. No. 33680 of 2019. The prayer in that Writ Petition was for a Writ of Certiorarified Mandamus calling for, and quashing Notification dated 08.11.2019. That Writ Petition was dismissed on 03.12.2019, however, protecting the interests of the Writ Petitioner on the ground that W.P. No. 20815 of 2019 was pending at that juncture. The Writ Court has noted, at paragraphs 7 and 8, as follows:

7. The petitioner had participated in the selection to the post of Panchayat Secretary in the year 2018. The candidature of the petitioner was rejected on the ground that the petitioner has fabricated documents to show her residence, within the village. If the petitioner succeeds in the writ petition, the petitioner will be entitled for the consequential relief and the petitioner will be considered for appointment to the post of Panchayat Secretary. Therefore, the petitioner will have to necessarily wait for the disposal of the writ petition. The petitioner cannot be permitted to stop the process that has been initiated by the 4th respondent for filling up the post of Panchayat Secre