ORDER

The Writ on hand has been instituted, questioning the order of rejection, rejecting the claim of the petitioner for notional promotion with retrospective effect in various cadres as Extension Officer, Deputy Block Development Officer, Block Development Officer and Assistant Director on par with his junior by counting the entire service of the petitioner in the Agriculture Department and extend all monetary benefits including revised pension with arrears.

2. The petitioner states that pursuant to the decision taken by the Government to absorb 415 Village Level Workers working in Agricultural Department as Gramasevak Grade-II, he was sent for a pre-service training. After completion of training for a period of 1 year, the petitioner was absorbed as Gramasevak Grade-II in Kadayam Panchayat Union, Tirunelveli District. Thereafter, the petitioner was transferred to Trichy District Panchayat Development Unit based on his request.

3. The service of the petitioner was regularized in the post of Gramasevak Grade-II and the petitioner was admittedly promoted to the post of Extension Officer and Deputy Block Development Officer and Block Development Officer. The petitioner retired from service on attaining the age of superannuation.

4. The grievance of the petitioner is that the period of service rendered by him as Village Level Worker was not taken into consideration for the purpose of fixation of seniority and to calculate the qualifying service for pensionary benefits. In the event of regularizing the service in the post of Village Level Worker, the petitioner would have got an opportunity of further promotion to the post of Assistant Director of Rural Development and Joint Director, as his juniors were already promoted upto to the level of Joint Director of Rural Development.

5. The learned counsel for the petitioner mainly contended that the petitioner, on his absorption as Gramasevak Grade-II, joined in the said post and served continuously and retired from service. The similarly placed persons, during the relevant point of time, made a representation to the authorities to revise their seniority by taking into consideration the services rendered by them as Village Level Workers. The other similarly placed persons filed Original Application before the Tamil Nadu Administrative Tribunal and the matter went upto the Division Bench of this Court and the Division Bench passed an order on 19.04.2005 in W.P.Nos.19960 to 19962 of 1998. Based on the judgement of the Division Bench, the writ petitioners therein were granted the benefit of revision of seniority and retrospective promotion on notional basis with prospective monetary benefits.

Accordingly, the third respondent-District Collector had issued orders revising the petitioner's seniority and notionally promoted him to the posts of Rural Welfare Officer Grade-I/Assistant, Extension Officer, Deputy Block Development Officer and Block Development Officer.

6. The learned counsel for the petitioner contended that the third respondent has not applied G.O.Ms.No.487, Personnel and Administrative Reforms Department, dated 18.04.1979 while fixing the seniority of the petitioner. Thus, the petitioner submitted a representation on 14.08.2015 to revise the seniority and to promote him notionally to the next higher posts. Pursuant to the representation, the respondents passed the impugned orders, rejecting the claim of the petitioner for grant of revision of seniority and consequential notional promotion with monetary benefits. Thus, the petitioner is constrained to move the present Writ Petition.

7. The learned Additional Advocate General appearing on behalf of the respondents objected the said contentions by stating that the petitioner was aware of his seniority position. He was regularly absorbed from the post of Village Level Worker to Gramasevak Grade-II and after his appointment, his seniority was fixed in the bottom in the District in which he was posted and thus, the petitioner was very m