Eligibility for ex-servicemen’s concessions must be assessed at the application date, not recruitment date; subsequent recruitment does not negate pre-existing claims.

JUDGMENT :

A.D. Maria Clete, J.

The appellants in these writ appeals assail the Common Order of the learned Single Judge dated 11.06.2024 in WP(MD)Nos.11995, 11833, 2057, and 1425 to 1427 of 2024. Since these appeals involve common questions of law and facts, they have been heard together and are being disposed of by this common judgment. The learned Single Judge, in the impugned order, directed the appellants to consider the respondents' entitlement to appointment under the Ex-serviceman category for Group II A posts, as notified in Notification No.3 of 2022 dated 23.02.2022, based on merit and to permit their participation in the ensuing stages of the selection process.

2. The respondents/writ petitioners, all ex-servicemen, had applied for various positions notified by the Tamil Nadu Public Service Commission (TNPSC) under separate notifications. These included Group II A posts under Notification No.3/2022 dated 23.02.2022, Group IV services under Notification No.7/2022 dated 30.03.2022, and technical posts such as Field Surveyor, Draftsman, and Surveyor-cum-Assistant Draughtsman under Notification No.2/2022 dated 30.06.2022.

3. The results for Notification No.2/2022 were declared on 15.02.2023, followed by the results for Group IV services under Notification No.7/2022 on 24.03.2023. The respondents successfully secured posts under these notifications and subsequently joined the respective services. However, the results for Group II A services under Notification No.3/2022 were published much later, on 08.04.2024, wherein the respondents were also found to have been selected. Considering their prior appointments, this situation has given rise to competing claims regarding the respondents' eligibility for participation in the subsequent stages of the selection process for Group II A posts.

4. It is not in dispute that the respondents/writ petitioners qualify as ex-servicemen within the meaning of Section 3(j) of the Tamil Nadu Government Servants (Conditions of Service) Act, 2016. There is also no controversy regarding the sequence of events: the notifications for Group II and II A services were issued earlier than the Group IV notification, but the results for Group IV services were published earlier. Consequently, the respondents, having been selected under the ex-serviceman category for Group IV services, joined those posts. The question arose as to whether the respondents, appointed to Group IV services under the ex-serviceman category, are eligible to claim the ex-serviceman concession for recruitment to Group II-A services.

5. The appellants, representing the Tamil Nadu Public Service Commission (TNPSC), strongly contended that the respondents were precluded from claiming the ex-serviceman concession a second time. According to the appellants, the first proviso to Section 3(j) of the Tamil Nadu Government Servants (Conditions of Service) Act, 2016 explicitly bars ex-servicem