Directly recruited Lab Assistants are entitled to salary and benefits as per their respective posts despite lacking specific qualifications, as previously established by the court.

J U D G M E N T

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The petitioners seek to declare that they are entitled to get their salary and all other consequential service benefits including arrears in the pay scale applicable to Lab Assistants from the date of their respective appointments.

2. The petitioners in W.P.(C) No.41802/2025 state that they were appointed as Lab Assistants with effect from 22.06.2010 and 19.06.2011 respectively. They were so appointed after undergoing a due selection process. The 3^rd respondent-Deputy Director of Collegiate Education approved their appointment as per Ext.P4.

3. The qualification prescribed for appointment to the post of Lab Assistant is passing of Attenders Test. The Attenders Test is conducted by the PSC for those persons who are in service as Office Attenders. Though the post of Lab Assistant is a promotion post for Office Attendants, in the absence of eligible candidates, direct recruitment can be resorted to. The direct recruitment will be subject to the appointees acquiring Test qualification in five chances as provided under Statute 41(12) of the Mahatma Gandhi University First Statute.

4. The Government, as per order dated

14.03.2021, granted three opportunities to the petitioners to acquire Test qualifications. When attempts were made to review the approval granted to the appointment of the petitioners, the petitioners filed W.P.(C) No.5281/2011. This Court directed the Deputy Director of Collegiate Education to take action and countersign the salary bills of the petitioners for payment.

5. The petitioners state that they are paid salary applicable to the Office Attendants, even though they were promoted to the posts of LD Clerks and UD Clerks respectively. Those promotions were also approved. The petitioners submitted representation to the Government seeking to pay them salary applicable to the posts of LD Clerk and UD Clerk. The 3^rd respondent-Deputy Director of Collegiate Education informed the petitioners as per Ext.P7 that there is no provision for granting five opportunities for those who have been appointed as Lab Assistants directly.

6. The petitioners further state that the issue was considered by this Court in Ext.P8 judgment in W.P.(C) No.8767/2017. This Court held that Lab Assistants are entitled for salary applicable to them in the post of Lab Assistant. W.A. No.1766/2022 filed by the State against Ext.P8 judgment was dismissed as per Ext.P9 judgment. The Government though filed SLP against Ext.P9 judgment, implemented the directions in Exts.P8 and P19, by issuing Ext.P10 GO dated 08.07.2023. The SLP was later dismissed as per Ext.P11 judgment.

7. The petitioners state that when this Court has declared the law that Lab Assistants directly recruited in the absence of qualified hands in the feeder category are eligible for salary in the scale applicable to Lab Assistants, denial of salary and consequential benefits to the petitioners is unjustified. The respondents are therefore compellable by appropriate writs of this Court to sanction and disburse the salary due to the petitioners in the pay scale of Lab Assistants with effect from their date of appointment.

8. The respondents resisted the writ petition.

The respondents stated that the petitioners did not possess the test qualification required for appointment to the post of Lab Assistant. As the petitioners have not acquired the Test qualification, they were not eligible to get the salary of Lab Assistants. The University Statute does not provide for direct recruitment to the post of Lab Assistant. Therefore, five opportunities for passing Test qualification cannot be granted to the petitioners.

9. I have heard the learned counsel for the petitioners, the learned Go