The court affirmed that entitlement to benefits under a government order is subject to interpretation, and previous rulings contribute to the established jurisprudence.

C O M M O N J U D G M E N T

(Judgment was delivered by N.SESHASAYEE,J.)

This twin appeals arise out of an order of the learned single Judge of this Court in W.P.(MD).Nos.10096 and 10097 of 2012, dated 27.07.2012.

2. The short question before the learned single Judge was if benefit under G.O. (Ms.)No.210, School Education (G-1) Department, dated 14.08.2009, could be extended to the petitioners before him. In paragraphs 3 and 6 of the order, the learned Judge has described the petitioners as headmasters in various Panchayat Union Schools and has proceeded to direct the authorities to consider the case of the petitioners involved in these cases to accord the benefit in terms of G.O. (Ms.)No.210, dated 14.08.2009. The correctness of the order of learned single Judge is now questioned.

3. Heard Mr.D.Sadiq Raja, the learned Special Government Pleader appearing for the appellants and Mr.K.Ragadeesh Kumar, learned counsel appearing for the respondents.

4. The learned the Additional Government Pleader appearing for the appellants submitted that:

a) The nature of order passed by the learned single Judge is not a substantive writ of mandamus directing the authorities to extend the benefit under G.O. (Ms.)No.210, School Education (G-1) Department, dated 14.08.2009, but only to consider the case of these petitioners for being granted the benefit under the same.

b) What however bothers the Government is that the learned single Judge has issued the direction on an impression that these respondents were working in Panchayat Union Schools. They however, were not working in Panchayat Union Schools, but were working in various Private Aided schools.

c) The intent behind G.O.(Ms.)No.210, School Education (G-1) Department, dated 14.08.2009, is only to grant benefit to the Middle School Headmasters in Panchayat Union Schools and Government Schools.

d) The rationale behind G.O.(Ms.)No.210, dated 14.08.2009 was intended to set right certain anomalies created by the implementation of 5th Pay Commission on 01.06.1988, and this in fact was intended to address certain stagnation in the pay anomaly to the Primary School Headmasters and the Middle School Headmasters. To compensate it, a special pay was proposed to be given to the Middle School Headmasters, for which purpose, the entire period of service in the feeder category was required to be reckoned.

5.1 Explaining his arguments, the learned Special Government Pleader submitted that the schools in this stated can be divided into three categories:(a) Government and Panchayat Union Schools; (b) Aided Minority Schools; and (c) Aided Non- minority Schools. In the case of Aided Minority Schools, the choice of appointing an individual to the post of Headmaster rests exclusively with the Management, and therefore there will never arise a situation of addressing any pay anomaly between the Headmaster of the Primary School and the Headmaster of the Middle School. Indeed, the situation itself is generated when certain stagnation has felt in the feeder category. So far as the Aided Non-Minority Schools are concerned, in most cases, the management will be running a single School, in which case, the promotional avenues are dictated by Rule 15 of the Tamil Nadu Recognised Private Schools (Regulation) Rules, 1974. In a single School, as per the Rule, the promotion to the post of Middle School Headmaster is based on merit, ability and where merit and ability is found equal as between few, then inter se seniority will be reckoned for filtering the first among the equals.

5.2 Now, both Aided Minority Schools and Aided Non- Minority Schools have to be excluded for conferring benefit under G.O.210 for the reasons stated. What remains are the Panchayat Union Schools and Government Schools. So far as the Panchayat Union Schools are concerned, a common seniority is maintained for all the teaching staff within the Panchayat Union, and here some may be stuck as Secondary Grade Teacher in the Primary Schools, and few will be stuck as Pri